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India has a rich wildlife heritage and a long tradition of nature
conservation, which is practically a way of life for its people. Wildlife
conservation is not merely an effort to protect some engendered species
like the tiger, but covers the whole of nature conservation. Survival of
wildlife and wilderness area is seen as indispensable to human survival
and for maintaining the quality of life on planet Earth.
Measures for conservation
Various measures have been taken for Tiger conservation:
1. To help spread awareness of the need for Tiger conservation in India;
2. To influence decision-makers in the Indian government on Tiger
conservation;
3. To encourage and influence innovative debate, constructive discussion,
and consensus-building;
4. to fight misinformation, and through advocacy to build a wider
consensus against exploitation and destruction of India's tigers and its
wildlife.
Need for Tiger Conservation
Along with eight sub-species, more than 100,000 tigers were found at the
turn of the last century. But in the last 50-60 year, three have become
extinct mainly to human ignorance and habitat loss. The Bali tiger was the
first to go in the 1940's followed by the Caspian in the 1970s and the
Javan in 1980s. In the last 100 years, tiger populations have declined by
95% due to a combination of factors: habitat loss, hunting, human
conflict, and the increased use of tiger bone-based medicines.
The remaining five sub-species of tiger - the Bengal (Indian), the Amur
(Siberian), the South China, Sumatran and Indo-Chinese - range over 14
states: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, North Korea, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam. The
South China, Amur and Sumatran are in danger of extinction, and
populations of the Indo-Chinese and Bengal tiger are declining rapidly.
The situation is serious - tigers are disappearing fast. Thus, in order to
save tigers, we must save their prey. In order to save the tiger's prey,
we must save the forest in which they live. By saving tigers, we are
saving the forests.