India's apex tiger body flags poaching across reserves

A new report by the National Tiger Conservation Authority and Wildlife Institute of India flags rampant poaching and dwindling population of chital, sambar and gaur on which big cats like tigers and leopards survive in India’s tiger reserves.

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The report also states that left wing extremism has also impacted conservation measures inside the tiger reserves.“Despite their importance, ungulates (animals like pigs, chital, sambar and gaur) face significant threats, including habitat loss due to deforestation, urbanisation and agricultural expansion. Poaching for meat and other traditional uses pose a major threat besides competition with livestock for grazing. Human-wildlife conflicts, particularly crop raiding by nilgai, wild boars and other ungulates, often result in retaliatory killings, exacerbating their population decline,” the report states.

It also points out to the limited financial resources which constrains the scale of conservation programmes, while weak enforcement of wildlife protection beyond protected areas hampers efforts to combat poaching and habitat destruction. Small and isolated populations of species such as Indian rhinoceros, barasingha, wild buffalo, pygmy hog, and hog deer face genetic bottlenecks due to fragmented habitat.

The report cites the example of hog deer which are found in abundance in Uttar Pradesh followed by Uttarakhand and Bihar. However, the population of these animals is not doing well due to poor grassland management, deterioration in grassland habitat, and poaching.

In the Indravati tiger reserve the report suggested that in order to restore animal population in the tiger reserve, the area should be free from armed conflict by left wing extremists and control on poaching through bush meat hunting.

“Like the Kamlang tiger reserve, the Namdapha tiger reserve also shares international boundaries with Myanmar and is very much prone to poaching and hunting of wildlife resources. Given the low prey densities, active management strategies such as consistent law enforcement monitoring, rigorous monitoring of wildlife resources, habitat management and participatory conservation with local communities would be beneficial in restoring and conserving prey and subsequently tigers in this area,” the report says.

It further says law enforcement monitoring protocol is still not robust in Kamlang, and much effort needs to be put in patrolling as poaching and hunting of wildlife species pose significant threats due to its proximity to the international border with Myanmar.

Additionally, poaching for bushmeat remains a critical challenge, further impacting the populations of these species. To ensure the long-term conservation of the Orang wildlife sanctuary and the Nameri tiger reserve in Assam, effective protection measures are imperative.