Government flags priority intervention need in 25 of 58 tiger reserves with low, absent tigers
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Context
The released two reports highlighting the need for priority intervention in 25 out of India's 58 tiger reserves that currently have low or no tiger populations. Despite an overall increase in India's tiger population, these reserves face challenges like low prey base and fragmented connectivity. The reports emphasize science-backed translocation and community participation for successful tiger recovery, learning from past successes like and failures like .
UPSC Perspectives
Environmental
This article highlights the critical distinction between overall population growth and spatial distribution in wildlife conservation. While has been successful nationally, the concentration of tigers in 'source reserves' (like and ) contrasts sharply with the depletion in 25 'sink' or potential recipient sites. The primary ecological constraint identified is prey base depletion, emphasizing that apex predators cannot survive without a robust food chain. Furthermore, habitat fragmentation prevents natural dispersal. For instance, reserves like are cut off from source populations, necessitating human intervention through translocation. The government's new roadmap stresses that translocation must be preceded by rigorous scientific assessment of genetics, demographics, and habitat suitability, ensuring genetic diversity and preventing inbreeding depression. The success of and , which recovered from zero populations, demonstrates the viability of active management when ecological parameters are addressed.
Governance
The report underscores the shift from purely protectionist conservation models to active wildlife management. The failure of tiger reintroduction at Odisha's serves as a crucial governance lesson: conservation cannot succeed in a vacuum. It requires community participation and mitigating human-wildlife conflict. The must integrate local communities into the conservation framework, addressing their livelihood concerns and taking them into confidence before introducing predators into their vicinity. Moreover, the report highlights the impact of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) on conservation governance. In regions like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand (e.g., , ), LWE has severely hampered protection efforts, leading to habitat degradation and poaching, illustrating how internal security directly impacts environmental outcomes.
Geographical
The geographic distribution of the troubled reserves reveals distinct regional challenges. The Northeast reserves, such as and , face unique geographical constraints: rugged terrain and naturally low prey densities, compounded by historical hunting pressures. This requires region-specific conservation strategies, recognizing that models successful in Central India may not directly apply. Conversely, the Central Indian landscape (e.g., ) acts as a robust source, but maintaining wildlife corridors connecting these sources to deficient reserves is geographically critical. The preservation of these corridors against linear infrastructure projects (roads, railways) is vital to facilitate natural dispersal and genetic exchange, reducing the need for costly and risky manual translocations.