Our tigers and the Chinese threat

A couple of days ago I read a worrisome article It stated that the tiger in India is under threat from an increase in demand for tiger parts in China A tiger from Tadoba was found in a bag in Guwahati on its way to our neighbour Has the trade started again and if so how and why What is happening now that the Chinese feel they can revert back to killing our tigers AgainWhilst the boom in tiger population has saturated most of our protected forests a reestablishment of corridors by the tigers themselves who have started to use revenue and patta lands to follow their traditional migration routes has resulted in filling areas that had once lost their tiger But this has come at a costOnce the tiger started moving freely without fear of humans outside protected areas it settled in fields and bushes surrounding our villages and started feeding on cattle I have noticed tigers moving into position at ten in the morning thatrsquos when the cows and goats go out to graze and three in the evening when they return to the village The tiger knows their ways and lies in wait Though this is gratifying news to many in the cities it leads to conflicts in rural India that are nearly impossible to overcome We know it The Chinese agents who want our tigers know it tooThe present laws in place and the mindset of the officials are mainly focused on protection not conservation Sadly the meaning of conservation is the least understood Conservation is a winwin solution for every living creature in a given ecobiosphereImplementation of conservation policies a few decades back would have ensured that today tigers leopards elephants deer boar reptiles birds humans cattle dogs cats sheep and goats to name a few all have equal opportunity at living a normal life That all has a winwin solution To arrive at such a winwin situation there needs to be an effective dialogue between those involved in conserving the ecobiosphereItrsquos a wellaccepted fact that a productive dialogue with the specific intention of building trust between locals and officials is essential for conservation Add to this policies that are in sync with groundlevel reality where the local people are included in decisionmaking and we have the making of something good It is clear that for the tiger to survive outside the forests it needs the blessing of our villagersA position will have to be arrived at where the villager is ready to make the requisite sacrifice to accommodate his tigers The day the villagers start working closely with officials that day the poachers will lose their ability to move freely within our sensitive areas and our tigers will be safeHaving the villagers working hand in hand with officials has untold advantages Letrsquos assume we need to increase tiger numbers to 5000 The first thing we would need to do is increase the land base for these animals to establish territory There being no more forests available village lands will have to be utilised to accommodate this increment At the cost of repetition I have to reiterate that this would have been accomplished with ease had we started the process of conservation decades agoThe mere declaration of ecosensitive zones without an effort to find a winwin solution for all animals will never work On the contrary it is backfiring Sadly now there being no standalone conservation laws in place any cat that chooses to move outside the park boundary is in direct conflict with humans unwilling to give way A conflict where the only loser is the tiger even as the Chinese wait gleefully Those tigers too young to fight for their territory and those too old to hold theirs are driven out by existing tigers They move out into unprotected village lands In areas where tourism has been allowed to flourish these tigers are embraced whilst in other areas they remain a threat to humanity Anything that is a threat to humans over time will be erased Now imagine an agent from China offering 10000 for such a tigerThis is why I believe controlled tourism is a perfect solution I have seen it work in many countries in Africa No matter what the experts say itrsquos a fact that tourism has had a positive impact on tiger populations and conservation as a whole Itrsquos the only tool for conservation that takes nothing from the forest yet bridges gaps seamlessly With village after village embracing tourism both the prey and predator populations have boomed in tourism zones allowing the villagers to get on the same side as the tigerAs I write this I know of tigers roaming freely near towns and villages I worry for them as I know that to sustain them we have to embrace conservation and come up with our own unique allencompassing conservation laws The day we do this we will plug the gaps that the Chinese are using to get to our tigersSadly I fear that this required shift in policy might just be a bridge too far But like every Indian I too live with hope as my support3925Max No of tigers in India as per the 2022 CensusSaad Bin Jung is a former cricketer who played firstclass cricket He is now a conservationist and runs a wildlife resort in South India