At that time, there were 22 tigers in Sariska. Buxa and Indravati had even more. Today, there are none. Across the board, in the Sundarbans, Corbett, Simlipal, Valmiki, Manas, Ranthambore, the story is the same. Simlipal had 99, now it is less than 15. Corbett 137, now less than 50. That the tiger is as much a victim of politicking as poaching is equally clear. Witness, for example, the divisions within the Tiger Task Force 2005. Dissenting member Valmik Thapar strongly protested sections of the report, which arguably tended to overstate its “people-friendly” case.

In fact, the unfortunate and unnecessary “people vs tigers” approach may yet prove to be the tiger’s undoing. The Tribal Land Rights Bill, which seeks to redistribute forest land to tribals, will compound matters. Wildlife workers are also at fault – their “we know best, and tourists are a problem” attitude has alienated a potentially large support base. Any amount of bureaucratic tinkering with the Wildlife Protection and Forest Conservation Acts, and the mere setting up of the proposed Wildlife Crime Bureau, will not help matters. The vacancies in the service must be filled, with a young, well-trained profile, and they must be better equipped and empowered to protect the tigers that are left and conserve its habitat. The first step, of course, is to face up to the numbers.