India’s first anti-poaching tiger force begins work
07 Jan BBC
India’s first forest ranger unit charged specifically with preventing
tiger poaching has gone into action.
The 54-member force will patrol tiger reserves in national parks
straddling the borders of Karnataka, Tamil Nado and Kerala states in the
south.
The Special Tiger Protection Force has received training in jungle
survival and weapons use.
Tiger numbers have shrunk alarmingly in recent decades. A census last
year counted about 1,700 tigers in the wild.
A century ago there were estimated to be 100,000 tigers in India.
Numbers up “The force is operational,” Karnataka conservation
official BK Singh told the BBC. “They will deal with poachers and
hunters.” The Special Tiger Protection Force was formed by the forest
and environment ministry on the recommendation of the National Tiger
Conservation Authority and Karnataka authorities. With their special
training course completed, the unit has moved into Bandipur and
Nagarahole national parks, south of Bangalore.
The forested region has the highest number of tigers in India,
according to a census released in March 2011 by the forest and
environment ministry.
Karnataka state, which has six tiger reserves, has about 300 tigers,
followed by Madhya Pradesh in the north with 257.
The census indicated that tiger numbers had increased to 1,706 from
1,411 at the last count in 2007.
Officials say conservation efforts by the government and wildlife
organisations have helped tiger and elephant populations increase.
But poaching remains a threat, with some 25 tigers killed in
Karnataka alone since 2006. |