According to the latest tiger census, the tiger population in India rose from 1,706 in 2011 to 2,226 in 2014.
100 years ago 100 thousand tigers were there. Today their number is mere 3200 the world over. When the biggest animal or the smallest in the food chain decline it is a danger sign for the eco system. Climate change is partly responsible for the decreasing habitat of tigers.
Gone are the days of Maharajas with their hunting expeditions and counting of carcasses of the powerless tigers shot in the jungles of India. The turbaned and urbanized Rajas in the company of their European counterparts would pose for photographs with pride overflowing their chests. The heaps of bodies would be laid by the jeeps and guns would proudly show their musketry faces in mirth.
Around 200000 square kilometers of reserve forests are there for conserving the beautiful beasts. But the exploding population needs land and resources shrink the space available for these wild cats. Each tiger requires around 500 animals in its territory for a food bank.
Steps to be taken to conserve and preserve these big cats' tribe for future.
- Stop poaching if persists with an iron hand
- Add more buffer zones around the reserves
- Reduce their habitat loss
- Compensate the villagers with alternate livelihood plans/monetary support
- Release the tigers in captivity
- Do not domesticate/tame tigers for humans' cruel pleasure
- Promote the breeding of their preys and ensure the tigers have ample prey.
- Appoint more guards and go for massive awareness creation
- Ban/confiscate products made of tigers
- Try to eradicate the myths around the tiger products( Tiger meat increases the potency)
- Go for stricter legislative measures to control poaching
- Reduce the human tiger conflict to nil level.
- Promote researches in tiger conservation and support them
The 12 Tiger Landscapes:
- Amur-Heilong – China and Russia
- Kaziranga–Karbi Anglong – India
- Satpuda-Maikal – India
- Western Ghats-Nilgiris – India
- Greater Manas – Bhutan and India
- Sundarbans – Bangladesh and India
- Terai Arc – India and Nepal
- Forests of the Lower Mekong – Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam
- Dawna-Tennaserim – Myanmar and Thailand
- Banjaran Titiwangsa – Malaysia
- Central Sumatra – Indonesia
- Southern Sumatra – Indonesia
Tiger! Tiger! burning bright
In the forest of the night
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
And What shoulder, and what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? and what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?
Tiger! Tiger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
In the forest of the night
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
And What shoulder, and what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? and what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?
Tiger! Tiger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
William Blake
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