Endangered Tiger Cubs Born In India
7/8/96
OVERVIEW, SOURCE & COMMENTARY by EE
The birth of two tiger cubs in India has reemphasized the peril
these endangered species face in the wild.
g.b.
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Headline: Endangered Tiger Cubs Born In India
Source: Reuters
Date: 7/8/96
Copyright 1996 Reuters Limited
Copyright 1996 Cable News Network, Inc.
RAJKOT, India (Reuters) -- A tigress in a zoo in the Indian
northwestern state of Gujarat has given birth to two cubs in
captivity recently, boosting the massive efforts under way to
protect the dwindling population of India's national animal.
The cubs, a male and female, weighing about one kilogram each,
were stated to be in good health along with their mother, Radha.
According to officials at the state-run zoo in
Rajkot, about 200 kilometers from Ahmedabad,
Radha had been brought from a zoo in the eastern Indian state of
Orissa to be paired with a tiger brought from the Gir forest of
Junagadh.
Conservationists agree that enough is not being done to protect
the animal, which is facing increasing threats of extinction due
to poaching and depletion of its natural habitat.
Amid growing fears, the government of India launched Project
Tiger in 1973-74 in nine selected forest reserves.
The sorry state of affairs in conservation efforts reached
staggering proportions in the 1980s as every part of the tiger
became a valuable commodity in illegal markets in several parts
of the world. The measures taken did not match the ingenuity of
the poachers.
Eager market
With increased demand in countries such as China, Hong Kong,
Taiwan, Korea and Japan for tiger bones in traditional medicines,
poachers have been felling more tigers.
Even as environmentalists are preparing to celebrate a quarter
century of the Project Tiger, the census figures of 1993 indicate
that the number of tigers in the wild from 1989 to 1993 decreased
from 4,307 to 3,429, a loss of 878 tigers.
Within the tiger reserve areas alone, their numbers decreased
from 1,327 to 1,178 during this period.
Also, while 22 percent of the country's land mass is managed by
the forest authorities, national parks account for only 1 percent
of the total area. The helplessness of the authorities can be
gauged from the fact that they were finding it difficult to
protect the species even in this area.
Conservationists have warned against complacency in the status
and future of the big cat in the country which accounts for 60
percent of the global population of the animal.