1,411 tigers at last count, and now there are two less

You can knock off two more tigers from the 1,411 count. Days after the national tiger count came up with this alarmingly low figure for tigers left in the wild forest, officials have seized two tiger skins - one an Adult and other of a cub –from area described as one of the few success stories of the tiger census.

The seizures  were made Saturday in Kerala’s Wayanad area, part of the tigers belt in the Nilgiri  biosphere spanning tiger reserves  at the Nagarhole- Bandipur (Karnataka),  Mudumali (Tamil Nadu )  and Wayanad (Kerala)  which the tiger counts says has the “Single largest population of tigers in India.” – 280 tigers over 10,800sq km.

 The two skins were seized by Flying squad of the Kerala Forest Department  “Based on intelligence inputs, we seized two tigers skins from different locations in Wayanad district. One was of an adult, a six-foot-long tiger, while the other is of a nine month old cub,” said C V Rajan, Divisional Forest Officer, Flying Squad.
“Though the tiger could have been poached from Karnataka, it is also possible they were poached from the Wayanad Reserve. The investigations are still on.” He said.
According to Rajan, so active is the tiger trade in the area that fake tiger skins were also seized last year while two tiger skins were found within a month in june 2007.
The latest tiger count describes the Wayanad-Nagarhole-Bandipur-Mudumalai belt as “ a fine example of managing inter-state tiger reserves for establishing populations that thave a good chance of long term persistence” but clearly this area needs enforcement attention. Data available with the Wildlife Protection Society of India says Karnataka accounted for four tiger skins, one suspected poaching and one case of poaching; Tamil Nadu reported one tiger skin and three suspected deaths while Kerala came across three tiger skins and one suspected death last year itself. Elsewhere in the country this year, at least three tigers have been killed while one has been paralysed in the Pana Reserve.
“According to me, tigers will be poached wherever they are found, given the poor enforcement. The time for making reports and committees is over. We need enforcement,” said Belinda Wright, member of the National Wildlife Board.