Bangalore Literature Festival: 'Tiger population can rise to 15,000 but officials don't have vision', says Karanth

Conservation zoologist Ullas Karanth lamented that we glorify kings, saying they killed so many tigers.

Participating in a session entitled 'An ecologically sound future: Which way forward', Karanth said that 500 years ago, India had at least 3 lakh to 4 lakh tigers but their populations dwindled because of rampant hunting. "Ironically, we glorify kings by saying he killed these many tigers," he noted.

Karanth believes the tiger population in India can rise up to 15,000 but regretted that the higher authorities do not have the vision to do so.

Karanth praised the efforts of Indira Gandhi in conserving wildlife, singling out the Wildlife Protection Act enacted during the late prime minister's time.

"If someone asked me in 1970 about the future of tigers, I would have told you there is no future, but the administration of Indira Gandhi changed the scene. Corbett himself predicted that tigers would be gone by 1950, and most environmentalists said they would be extinct by 2000, but we are here today. We have nearly 3,000 tigers," he added.

According to Karanth, wildlife conservation has three phases in India: before 1970, when things were the most difficult because of trophy hunting; the Wildlife Conservation Act changed the situation, and the present era when things are improving and there is more scope for improvement.