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At the turn of the century, it is estimated that there were more than
40000 tigers in India alone, which declined to roughly 1800 in 1972.
Considering this drastic fall in its number, efforts were put to launch
Project Tiger, worldwide.
OBJECTIVES
Project Tiger was launched on April 1, 1973 on the basis of the
recommendations of a special task force of the Indian Board for Wildlife
with the following main objectives:
1. To ensure maintenance of a viable population of tiger in India
for scientific, economic, aesthetic cultural and ecological values.
2. To preserve, for all times, the areas of such biological
importance as a national heritage for the benefit, education and enjoyment
of the people.
Initially 9 Tiger Reserves were created. At present, there are 27 Tiger
Reserves spread over in 17 States and covering an area of about 37,761 sq.
km.
The subsequent effort of conservation of Project Tiger saw a rise in the
number of tigers over the decade and the 1989 census indicated a
population of over 4000 in the Indian sub-continent. The population in the
18 tiger reserves being 1327. However the 1993 census showed the
population in India as above 3750 and the same in 23 tiger reserves as
1366, indicating that the tiger population had declines during the
1989-1993, including decreasing of the population in 11 of the 18
reserves.
In the early part of the current century, the decline in the tiger
population in the country was primarily due to hunting which was allowed
before 1970. A total ban on hunting, both at the national and
international levels, was implementation and anti poaching measures led to
a steady recovery of the species in the 70s and 80s. Since 1991, it was
noticed that tiger bones were more in demand than skin. Poached tiger
skins are left behind in the forests, but the bones are taken away. This
has posed a new threat to tigers in India. This new challenge has reversed
some of the successes of the measures initiated in the late 1970s and 80s,
as a result of which the tiger population declined during 1989-99.
