Big cat population is increasing

Tarequl Islam Munna

July 26 is celebrated globally to promote public awareness and support for tiger conservation. The tiger is the world's largest cat and is currently listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). In the last 80 years, three of the nine subspecies have gone extinct, and the futures of the other six remain dire. The primary threats facing tigers are habitat loss, depletion of prey species and poaching.

The number of tigers in the wild has risen for the first time in 100 years. Around 100,000 tigers lived in the wild in the 1900 but 97 percent of them is lost in the last century by constant decline. But fortunately their numbers are finally on the rise. For the first time in a century the global wild tiger population has increased, giving hope to conservation efforts after many decades as their numbers were gradually dwindling. 

There are now a minimum of 3,890 tigers in the wild, representing a substantial increase since 2010, when estimates put the global population at as few as 3,200 according to the (IUCN).The meeting of tiger range governments at the 3rd Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation is the latest step in the Global Tiger Initiative process that began with the 2010 Tiger Summit in Russia. 

Driven largely by conservation successes and can be attributed to multiple factors including increases in tiger population in India, Russia, Nepal, Bhutan and improved surveys and enhanced protection. The countries announced a historic commitment to double the population (Tx2) by 2022. Countries appear to be heading toward their goal, and this is the first time tiger numbers have been increasing globally in more than a hundred years. 

"This is a critical meeting taking place at the halfway point in the Tx2 goal," said Dr Rajesh Gopal, Secretary General of Global Tiger Forum. "Tiger governments will decide the next steps towards achieving this goal and ensuring wild tigers have a place in Asia's future."Over the three day meeting, countries will report on their progress toward the Tx2 goal and commit to next steps. Indian Prime Minister Modi will address the conference on the essential role tigers play as a symbol of a country's ecological well-being.

"A strong action plan for the next six years is vital," said Michael Baltzer, Leader of WWF Tx2 Tiger Initiative. "The global decline has been halted but there is still no safe place for tigers. Southeast Asia, in particular, is at imminent risk of losing its tigers if these governments do not take action immediately." The world's count of wild tigers roaming forests from Russia to Vietnam has gone up for the first time in more than a century, with some 3,890 counted by conservation groups and national governments in the latest global census, wildlife conservation.

Tigers are considered endangered species, under constant threat from habitat loss and poachers seeking their body parts for sale on the black market. They are also seeing their habitats rapidly shrinking as countries develop. The global tiger count is based on data from 2014. 

Here is the tally broken down by country: Bangladesh, 106; Bhutan, 103; Cambodia, 0; China, more than 7; India, 2,226; Indonesia, 371; Laos, 2; Malaysia, 250; Nepal, 198; Russia, 433; Thailand, 189; Vietnam, fewer than 5.

The tiger population in the Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest, has sharply declined to 106 in 2015 from 440 in 2004, confirms a top forest official quoting the tiger census 2015. The survey by Bangladesh's forest department, with technical support from the Wildlife Institute of India, titled 'Tiger Abundance in Bangladesh Sundarbans' said there were only 106 tigers in the Bangladesh part. Some 440 tigers were recorded during the previous census conducted in 2004 in the World Heritage-listed Sundarbans, one of the world's last remaining habitats for the big cats.

Bengal tigers live mainly in India where nationwide there are 2,226, with smaller populations in Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Myanmar. India is home to 70 per cent of global tiger population. Therefore, the country has an important role to play in tiger conservation. The Government of India started 'Project Tiger' in 1972 with a view to conserving the animal. As part of this project nine core buffer areas for maintaining tiger population were notified. 

Established in 1994, the Global Tiger Forum is the only inter-governmental body for tiger conservation. Its membership includes seven tiger range countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal and Vietnam. International NGO members consist of World Wildlife Fund, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), and TRAFFIC. Several national NGOs from India and Nepal are also members.

Now responsibility of both Bangladeshi and Indian authorities might be to analyse the environmental impact of such a drastic decrease and mark out a way to recover the huge population loss of the iconic big cat -- the Royal Bengal Tiger, which is also a world human heritage.

Tarequl Islam Munna is a journalist, columnist and wildlife conservator