THE hunting grounds of the erstwhile royal family of Alwar is again stained with the blood of a big cat. The raging scandal over the missing tigers of Sariska has shocked the country. Where have the tigers gone?

The Sariska story broke out in September 2004 after a Wildlife Institute of India (WII) team could not spot a single cat. According to the official census, in 2003 there were 25 to 28 tigersand in the 2004 census, 18 tigers were reported. In 2005, all were missing. Nobody knows what happened to the tigers. Perhaps those who knew just kept quiet. On March 20, the case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The disappearance of these protected animals, and India's national animal, has become a major crisis since "Project Tiger" was launched in 1973. The Empowered Committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) termed the incident as "the biggest wake up call in the country's conservation history". "The CBI, in its preliminary assessment report, has indicated that there was no evidence to prove the presence of tigers in Sariska. The entire population seemed to have become extinct primarily because of poaching, the Rajya Sabha was informed in the first week of May 2005 by Namo Narain Meena, Minister of State for Forests.

Threat from vested interests

Sariska lies between two major cities — New Delhi and Jaipur — with two State highways running through it. Nearly 50 villages lie within its limits and around 40,000 people live in those hamlets. Sariska is also a favoured tourist destination. "The demand for tiger skins and body parts seems to have increased and the prices these command in the international market makes poaching extremely lucrative. The ease with which tigers can be killed, along with the low risk of being prosecuted, emboldens poachers," says Sekhar Dattatri, wildlife filmmaker.

"An international racket behind this. The marble quarry lobby, backed by political tycoons, also does not want tigers there. The forest department is ill-equipped. Then how can the tigers survive?" asks E. Kunhikrishnan, zoologist and environmental activist.

After the Sariska story broke out, the government machinery suddenly recognised the existence of the poacher route that extends from New Delhi to Nepal, Lhasa (Tibet) and China.

"First it must be recognised by everyone that there is no substitute for good protection. An organised, well-connected mafia is involved in poaching. Punishment must be severe and swift," points out Dattatri.

But when the State forest departments don't have enough money, a protection strategy or proper management initiatives, how can any one expect them to have plans? "Knowledge, information, skill and technology of wildlife management are absent. Further, there is no political will and support," says Dr. S. Sankar of the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI).

The seizure of "wildlife trophies" is being reported from across the country with alarming regularity. On February 1 this year, the Delhi police confiscated 39 leopard skins, two tiger skins, three kilograms of tiger claws and 42 otter skins from a warehouse.

"Tigers aren't safe anywhere in India. Three years ago, a gang of tiger poachers from a village near Katni, Madhya Pradesh were caught red-handed at Nagarahole, the premier game sanctuary in Karnataka. This came to light only because a tourist happened to film a tiger limping with a jaw trap attached to its foot," says Dattatri.

In May 2005, a tiger skin and a leopard skin were seized in the Muthanga wildlife sanctuary in Wayanad, Kerala. "We have arrested the culprits who include a deserter from the Army," says a forest official. Poisoning the kill, trapping and shooting are the most common methods used to kill the big cats.

"I was surprised to find Hindi speaking tribes selling wildlife products on the streets of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. When I asked them whether they have tiger claws, a woman brought out a blood stained paw from her sack," says Shivaprasad, wildlife photographer.

"As far as a top, solitary and slow breeding carnivore is concerned, killing individual animals is the worst threat. After the turn of the 20th Century, the fast decline in the number of tigers was mainly due to poaching and hunting. Of course habitat destruction and poaching of the prey species were other reasons too," observes E. Kunhikrishnan.

"Habitat conservation is most important. If poaching leads to death, habitat loss will also lead to extinction," says Dr. A.V. Santhosh Kumar, professor of Forestry, Kerala Agriculture University.

Environmentalists suggest that the only way to protect our remaining stretches of forest and wildlife is by creating social fencing (see box below) around jungles. And the participatory management system being evolved in the Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala is highlighted as an example. Periyar is situated around a man-made 26 sq.km lake. Extremely rich in bio-diversity, it became India's 10th Tiger Reserve in 1972.

This may be the only way out to prevent further Sariskas ... .

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THE Periyar model of bio-diversity conservation is emerging as a paradigm for the entire developing world. It is sustainable, participatory and dynamic. There are around 2.5-lakh people living around the Periyar reserve. In India, protected areas stand as islands surrounded by a sea of the poor and an underprivileged population. "The Periyar experiment was like trying to build a ship while sailing in an un-chartered sea. It was risky," says Pramod Krishnan, IFS, an architect of the project. But the risks taken by young and motivated officers have paid off. No tiger poaching has been reported in the last decade and an estimated 26 to 36 tigers are believed to be thriving. Many of the local villagers are involved in a unique bio-diversity conservation programme.

Eco-development committees and self-help groups of women are formed among the people who live close to the park; 40,000 people from 6,000 homes are brought under the scheme. "They are the stake holders. While eco-development and bio-diversity conservation are our prime concerns, the livelihood of these people is also given importance," says Basheer, a forest official at Periyar. Each year, nearly half a million tourists visit the park, and eco-tourism is managed by the local people. "From the revenue generated, Rs. 50 lakhs to Rs. 65 lakhs was pumped back to the local community last year. We have local women and ex-poachers working with us and educating visitors," says Krishnan, an official.

In 2004, the government project at Periyar came to an end. The response of the park administration and local people was to establish the Periyar Foundation, a charitable society comprising officials and citizens. With the income generated from its activities, it has adopted 38 anganwadis, three tribal schools and a hospital. Women EDCs run small businesses and organic farms.

The lesson from Periyar is that no effective conservation is possible without taking into consideration regional socio-economic issues. As Krishnan says, the activities have moved from policing to social fencing. The dream is to build parks without boundaries.

But the fact remains that wildlife in India's protected areas are increasingly under threat.

"Last week we spotted a lone and magnificent male tiger at noon. I suddenly realised how terribly vulnerable he was," says an emotional Rajeev, an unarmed, under-paid, daily wage watcher in one of Southern India's most prestigious reserves. It was touching as we silently looked on at the forest stretch of Wayanad (Kerala), Mudumalai (Tamil Nadu) and Bandipur (Karnataka), the sun burning orange and setting.