Karnataka was crowned the ‘Tiger State’ of the country after the recent tiger census.
But, it has now come to light that the State has accounted for the most number of poaching cases in the last four years.
A total of 63 cases of poaching have been registered across 17 states-- Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal-- since 2008.
Of this, Karnataka accounts for 11 with 2010 and 2011 together recording eight poaching cases. According to information available with the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Maharastra accounted for 10 cases of poaching.
Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha recently, Jayanti Natarajan, Minister of State, MoEF, admitted that poaching is one of the major causative factors for the depletion of a species from its habitat. She said: “The government has initiated several steps to prevent poaching as also to punish those indulging in the act.”
One of the major initiatives include rehabilitation of people living in areas close to the tiger habitat.
However, according to the available information: “...there are about 762 villages with 48,549 families in the core/critical tiger habitats across the country, with Karnataka housing 101 villages and 6159 families.”
State’s version
When the matter was brought to the notice of the State government, Kaushik Mukherjee, Principal Secretary to Government Forest, Ecology & Environment Department said: “...The number is both correct and wrong!”
The State, he said, had one of the best enforcement mechanisms in the country and also has a great team of forest officials working specifically on protecting tigers.
“This is what helped us get the tag of being the Tiger State after the recent census. We have over 320 tigers while Madhya Pradesh has only about 280 and nobody else is even close,” Mukherjee said.
He said that many of the poaching cases registered had not originated here, and in four of the cases only tiger skins were found.
Alarming
2008: Nine tigers in the country, one in State.
2009: 17 in the country, two in State
2010: 25 in the country, five in State
2011: 12 in the country, three in State.
* Till Aug 8, 2011