INTRODUCTION
Tigers face challenges to their existence daily. Poachers threaten this species by illegally hunting them in order to meet market demands for tiger products and meat; they are also losing their native habitat as deforestation efforts increase exponentially. Seventy percent of the world tiger population reside in India and due to this, the government has developed the National Tiger Conservation Authority which is in charge of Project Tiger. Project Tiger oversees 49 reserves throughout India. The last tiger census in 2014 indicated 2,226 tigers older than 1.5 years roaming the reserve areas, this number is up from 1,411 just ten years ago. India’s protected lands have led to the successful growth in population. While tiger numbers grow within the reserves, unfortunately, they are declining outside of protected zones. Researchers suggest that this fact points to the need to create corridors to connect reserves which would thereby lower tigers’ risk.
Tiger Census by the Government of India, Status of Tigers In India (three columns representing tiger census in the three years of 2006, 2010, and 2014.)
DATA ANALYSIS
So how has the tiger population changed over the years in the North East Hills and the Brahmaputra Flood Plains? This geographic area, the North East Hills and Brahmaputra, has seen an overall increase in tiger population. In 2006, reports suggested an average of 100 tigers throughout the region and the population actually increased to 201 in 2014 tiger census reports. This current population size represents nearly 10% of India’s entire tiger population. The states that make up the North East Hills and Brahmaputra Flood Plains are: Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Northern West Bengal.
To begin, Assam has more than doubled its numbers over a 7-year time span, from a mere 70 in 2011 to 167 tigers according to the 2014 count. This fact is very promising for tiger enthusiasts everywhere. Within Assam, Kaziranga presents the highest concentration of these big cats. Arunachal Pradesh has doubled its tiger numbers during the same 7 years. The tiger population in that state grew from 14 to 28 Surprisingly, observers have also reported tiger sightings in Dibang Valley, Karbi Hills, and Namdapha Tiger Reserve. These tiger census reports reflect great success as a result of tiger conservation efforts. Genetic sampling from the Dibang Valley and the Namdapha Reserve indicates a potential tiger population of about 20. Mizoram and Northern West Bengal seem to have experienced a slight decline in tigers. Northern West Bengal has gone from 10 tigers to only 3, a sombering piece of data. The Mizoram population has been cut in half from 6 to 3 although those numbers were retrieved via scat DNA.
CONCLUSION
Tigers are at the top of the food-chain and their place as a top predator makes them invaluable to proper ecosystem functioning. Without large predators, herbivores have nothing to keep their population under control and in turn, must consume more and more plants which can cause irreparable damage and leave the ecosystem out of balance. The significant tiger population increases within protected reserve lands in India and the simultaneous decline in unprotected areas denotes that tigers respond better to decreased human interactions, protected habitats and plentiful prey. The absence of tigers illustrates an unhealthy ecosystem and therefore all possible efforts should be made to conserve their species.
Writer: Amber Pariona, Peru
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