& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Tiger, Tiger Burning Out
TWO decades after India launched Project Tiger. touted as a grand success in rescuing the species from the brink of extinction, poachers are threatening the survival of the majestic golden cat.
Nearly 30 of the 45 tigers In India's famous Ranthamb-hore National Park In north western Rajasthan State were reportedly trapped and killed during the last 12 months
An alarmed Ministry of En vironment and Forests has ordered an Inquiry, but con servatlonists say Ranthambore is only a part of a well-organ Ised and flourishing trade In tiger skins and bones.
India’s tough wildlife protection laws and a CITES (Convention on International Trade In Endangered Species) ban has not been able to curb the smuggling, say officials of
Traffic I nd la . which was set up In January with funding from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) It Is part of a global network to monitor International wildlife trade
Poachers tn collusion with corrupt forest authorities have invaded all the country s 18 tiger reserves, say officials
The hunters are most often local people living on the edge or Inside national parks who earn almost US85OO for the handsome striped black on gold furs. A middleman would pay US*4OO for the skeleton.
The untreated hide is then sold for up to USS 1,000 to big dealers in the cities from where it is clandestinely sent for processing to leather tanneries. On the world market, tiger skins fetch about USS 15.000. A kilogramme of bones can bring US* 170.
According to Traffic iadta. bones are mainly supplied to buyers tn Taiwan. China and Korea where they are an essential Ingredient In several traditional Chinese medicines
Officials say it is not easy keeping tabs on the buyers, especially since Traffic Taipei closed down in May. barely a year after It was set up. due to shortage of funds.
Unrestricted poaching Is threatening to reverse the gains of Indias wildlife conser vation efforts. Prbject Tiger was begun In 1973 to preserve the tiger In Its shrinking natural habitat.
National parks and sanctuaries were created to stop human settlements from encroaching. By 1987, the tiger population had risen from 270 to over 1.200
Over 28,000 sq km of
forests have been set aside for tiger reserves in India Neigh bourlng Nepal has two big wildlife sanctuaries on the In dlan border The oldest and best known is Corbett Park-named after the famous British hunter Jim Corbett— which was set up In 1936 In India's Himalayan foothills.
The Indian tiger lives In di verse habitats— from the hilly to the humid mangroves of the Ganges delta, the arid scrub lands of the Thar Desert and the lush forests of southern and northeastern India.
"We no longer believe the government's claim that the tiger population Is rising, says Ashok Kumar of the WWF. According to him, the annual tiger census by forest officials is not reliable.
Kumar told IPS the officials have been 'deliberately keeping out wildlife enthusiasts and local people from the monitoring of Project Tiger". Comer vatlonists have been urging the government to involve villagers in their battle against poaching and to protect forests.
To reinforce their argument. they point to the success of the forest protection committees' in an eastern state and van panchayats (forest councils) in the north em Himalayas that have been able to save vanishing wildlife and Jungles
The creation of buffer forests around national parks and sanctuaries would go a long way In keeping the core area reserved for the animals and free of fodder and fuelhunting peasants, they point out
Wildlife sanctuaries have taken away from villagers
common lands that provided them with firewood and forest produce. An alienated peasantry surviving on the fringes of protected areas have become poachers and timber smugglers.
A few years ago. an envi ronment ministry report revealed that just 43 per cent of the over 480 national parks and sanctuaries In the country had an alternative management plan for people uprooted by the creation of wildlife reserves.
In the 400 sq km Ran thambhorc Park, forest guards arc waging a running battle, sometimes violent, to keep local people out The park scaled off from some 250,000 people living in 60 nearby hamlets is their only sources of fodder, fuel and green manure. — Il’S