Saving Indian Tiger
Dear minions, I am ashamed to admit that for once I find myself in agreement with insufferable Jerry Rao when he argues that best way to conserve tiger is allowing its commercial exploitation
Sometime last year the fallen one had raised essentially the same point, at that time I vehemently disagreed. Looking back, I can't figure out my reason for doing it, but I kind of feel stupid about it.
On the other hand Ritwik has disagreement with it and makes a convincing case.
9 comments:
Even I was wondering the same thing recently: Why not just grow tigers as an industry if there's so much demand for them?
Has anyone done cost analysis on what it will entail to breed tigers and manage them to adulthood to sell their few parts ?
Just wondering how feasible this thing would turn out.
Pramod, Sakshi,
I am not very sure about the details. By the way, I highly recommend Ritwik's post
Breeding tigers for parts is like mass-producing BMWs in a third-world country. Parts from free roaming tigers would be in demand then.
How about this:
Let the Govt. catch wild tigers above 11 years of age (i.e. past their reproductive prime) and release them in a game reserve. Charge hunters USD 3,000 to hunt one of these tigers (for the thrill of hunting a tiger from the safety of a machan:-) )and another USD 5,000 for keeping the dead body.Use this money for conservation purposes.
Rough calculations indicate:
Tiger population in the Indian wild: 2,000
Approx. tigers turning 11 per year (150)
Tigers allowed to be hunted (20%) [Estimating a demand for 30 tigers to be hunted each year - conservative!)
Revenues:- USD 240,000 per annum which is approx. INR one crore.
Use this revenue for the upkeep of the hunting reserve (can be a small piece of enclosed forest land, even 10 hectares is enough!) and for the maintenance of the tiger population.
I am not sure the govt. can handle this project without corruption seeping in (like killing the tigers before 11 years) and given the general inexpertise of the bureaucracy to manage a business, hence the recommendation for a private player or a public-private partnership!
I have always wondered why we cannot do the same with the tiger population (& all other animal population) in our zoos. After-all, hunters are looking for trophies all the while, they would not mind killing an old animal!
Mayuresh,
is the Indian government so poor that it does not have 1 crore? That according to your grand scheme is total sum which will be realized from killing 150 tigers...
Tiger conservation is important for the preservation of the biosphere as well as it is at the top of the food chain; old tigers even if past their reproductive age have their uses.
Rohit,
Every rupee from the taxpayer's pocket spent on Tiger conservation is one rupee less for other pressing needs that require Govt. attention. Like primary education. 1 crore will probably be a drop in the ocean, but cutting down on these expenses in all walks of governance would release a substantial quantum for the more pressing needs.
Further, 1 crore is the money released by killing 30 tigers (150 x 20%; I am assuming that the rest of them live as they are). Similarly, the 1 crore is a conservative estimate, as we have not factored the demand from china, for tiger bones, teeth, etc.
Please note that I am not advocating the killing of all tigers for game and blowing that money up. That money should be used in increasing tiger conservation efforts.
At this point, commercial exploitation looks like the most viable alternative for tiger conservation, especially when most other the government efforts have failed, and tigers continue to be poached.
Remember what happened to the Chinchilla? This small rodent-like creature was hunted massively for its extremely soft fur and was critically endangered in the wild(200 chinchillas are needed to be hunted to make one fur coat as the chinchilla is a small animal link:http://www.antifursociety.org/). Somewhere around 1950, someone caught and 11 chinchillas and bred them. Today, most of the chinchillas in the wild are left alone, as their fur is easily available from domesticated ones! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinchilla#Fur_industry
All in all, it is not such a bad idea to explore the idea of the commercial exploitation of tigers, as it seems to be the best alternative to conserve the species
Err Mayuresh.. the chinchilla is easy to bred and maintain. A tiger is not!
I have to say that idea is just not economically feasible. Apart from what Shriram points out that the free tiger products would just increase in demand thereby not bringing down the killing of wild animals.
And breeding tigers for parts is just not as simple as putting two tigers together.
A female tiger attains sexual maturity when she is 3-4 years old and a male at 4-5. Atleast since India enjoys a tropical climate, the female will be in heat all the time once she gains maturity. The gestation period is 110 days. Now once the litter is born (3-4 cubs), she wont mate again till about 2 years later. So in effect a mature female will give you atleast 2-3 litters in her life time in the wild. That is about 6-9 cubs. Once about 2 years old the cubs will be feeding like an adult but are not fully grown adults - so their skins wont fetch that much. For that you need to take care of them for another 2-3 years. The animals eat about 40 Kg of meat in one feeding! That is a lot of meat one will be needing.
And they dont live that long either. Reports state that tigers live about 15 years in wild and about 16-18 years in captivity - this is an expensive venture!
And saving tigers in the wild is imp - its at the top of the foodchain. You eliminate the tiger, we will have overgrazing and soil aridness coming in. That affects us all - since it affects watertables and rains. So yes, the government should be putting more money in!
This is just glancing at the logistics. A more detailed analysis would be welcome about the cost effectiveness of it all.
The only way to save endangered species like the tigers is educate the people who live near it. The tribals in our case. Show them alternative ways to earn money and they wont help hunt the tiger. An economically sound populace is the only hope for the tiger.
The real numbers state that the population is down to 1000. This is the time when we need to really put in the effort to save the Tiger.
Hi Sakshi,
Your point is valid, tigers will be indeed difficult to breed. However, I do not think that there will be demand for wild tigers rather than tame ones. The primary demand for tigers is from China, where they need the bones et al for traditional medicines. There tame tigers will work just the same!
However, even though they are very difficult to breed, and a tigress can produce only two cubs every two years, in the wild, it is even lower. All I say is, use the old tigers to generate additional revenue. By handing it to the private players, we make sure that the plan works coz he is accountable for it an it is his money at stake.
On an different note, I agree with Gaurav that we probably need to give a rethink to the question whether we need to conserve tigers at all in the first place.
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