Wildlife law adds to woes of India's tigers

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By Samanwaya Rautray

 

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A new Indian wildlife law offers too much

protection to people living in forests and threatens to further

undermine efforts to save an endangered population of tigers,

conservationists said on Wednesday.

 

The Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act 2006 came into force in

September and aims to save the big cats, whose numbers have fallen

alarmingly because of poaching.

 

But activists have called on India's Supreme Court to scrap parts of

the law they say might have the opposite effect.

 

" Co-existence of humans with large carnivorous wild animals is a

myth, " said a petition filed on Monday by the Bombay Natural History

Society, the Wildlife Protection Society of India, the Conservation

Action Trust and the Wildlife Trust.

 

" Conflict between the two is the reality, a reality which is reflected

in the ascending graph of the number of fatalities on either side. "

 

They say the law, which insists authorities ensure " the agricultural,

livelihood, development and other interests of the people living in

tiger-bearing forests or a tiger reserve " , could mark a new low in

efforts to save rare wildlife.

 

" This Act would mean the end of forests as we know them. If you look

at the map, you will see that the only forests left in this country

are the tiger reserves, " Maneka Gandhi, former environment minister,

told Reuters.

 

Under its provisions, forest-dwellers could sell, give or occupy

forest land, hunt animals that are not protected and even set up

hotels in reserves and parks, the activists say.Wildlife activists say

the law was rushed through parliament without proper debate.

 

But officials say it is an attempt to address the needs of tens of

thousands of poor people who live in forests and eke out a meager

living from cutting down trees to sell as firewood and simple farming.

 

Many take money from criminal gangs to lay traps, poison water sources

and electrocute tigers. Further legislation expected later this year

will fully address the rights of forest dwellers, officials say.

 

The law also allows for a tiger conservation authority and a wildlife

crime bureau. Tiger bones and skins sell for tens of thousands of

dollars in China, where body parts are used in traditional medicines.

There were about 40,000 tigers in India a century ago, but decades of

poaching have cut their number to 3,700. Some groups say the number

could be as low as 1,200.

 

© Reuters 2006. .