Guwahati: While India as a whole has maintained an encouraging trend in terms of the country’s tiger population, Assam’s Nameri National Park and Tiger Reserve has witnessed a dismal picture.
According to the latest government data released on International Tiger Day on Saturday, the number of tigers in India has increased from 2,967 in 2018 to 3,682 in 2022, an annual rise of 6%.
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With a 50% increase in the last four years, Madhya Pradesh has the maximum number (785) of tigers in the country, followed by Karnataka (563), Uttarakhand (560), and Maharashtra (444), according to the data.
On the other hand, Assam’s Manas, Kaziranga, and Orang tiger reserves have recorded an increase in population, but the number has dipped in the Nameri tiger reserve.
Assam has a total population of 200 tigers, with 121 in Kaziranga, 48 in Manas, 28 in Orang, and 3 in Nameri.
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Nameri is one of the 18 tiger reserves with fewer than 10 big cats. The other tiger reserves with fewer than 10 big cats are– Ranipur in Uttar Pradesh, Achanakmar, Indravati, and Udanti Sitanadi in Chhattisgarh, Palamau in Jharkhand, Bor and Sahyadri in Maharashtra, Satkosia in Odis, Mukundara and Ramgarh Vishdhari in Rajasthan, Kawal in Telangana, Kalakad Mundanthurai in Tamil Nadu, Dampa in Mizoram, Pakke, Kamlang, and Namdapha in Arunachal Pradesh, Buxa in West Bengal.
It may be mentioned that the number of tigers in Nameri had increased to four from three following the release of a tiger last year. However, the tiger, which was rescued from Umananda Island in Guwahati and released in Nameri on December 25 last year, has been killed by smugglers recently.
Wildlife activists have blamed the officials of the Nameri tiger reserve for the dismal performance in wildlife conservation, especially tigers.
“The performance of officials, especially the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Western Assam Wildlife Division, in wildlife conservation has been dismal. The tiger population has not improved despite huge amounts of funds being spent on conservation,” said a wildlife activist.
He said that the DFO does little for conservation and has given free rein to illegal sand and stone miners inside Nameri.
“Due to stone mining, the river Jia Bharali has caused massive erosion, posing a threat to the tiger reserve. In fact, the forest office inside the park has faced erosion threat,” he said.
It is time for citizens to hold the DFO accountable for the plight of Nameri.
“The illegal sand and stone mining on the Jia Bharali River, which flows through Nameri, has been going on for a long time, and it has caused significant damage to the river bank. It has caused massive erosion. However, the DFO and other forest officials have not taken any steps to stop it,” said a local.
The Union environment ministry said in a statement that approximately 35% of the 53 tiger reserves in India urgently require enhanced protection measures, habitat restoration, ungulate augmentation, and subsequent tiger reintroduction.
It further said that intensive conservation efforts are necessary to protect the tiger population from threats such as habitat loss, poaching, and human-wildlife conflict.
However, the Western Assam Wildlife Division DFO is least bothered by such suggestions from the environment ministry.