Tiger deaths related to poaching reached an all time high in 2016. Electrocution and poisoning of the big cats have also been recorded across tiger habitats. With wildlife traps and electric wires embedded deep into the ground or hid among debris, the detection of these devices is often difficult and missed by forest guards who manually patrol our forests to ensure protection of our wildlife. Experts seek a way out with Team Viva
Today is Global Tiger Day and there are reasons which have led to the decimation of the animal’s population and need to be seen in their entirety. Activists are urging tiger-range governments to strengthen anti-poaching efforts and crack down on a severe wildlife snaring crisis that is threatening wildlife across Asia, especially the world’s remaining wild tigers, which number only around 3,900.
Easy to make from widely available material such as bicycle cable wires and quick to set up, wire snares are deadly traps that are fast becoming the plague of Asia’s forests. Driven by the growing illegal wildlife trade, which is now reaching an estimated US$20 billion annually, illegal wildlife trade is estimated to reach $20 billion per year, which makes wildlife trafficking the world’s fourth largest illicit trade, after narcotics, human trafficking and trade in counterfeit goods.
Within the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the only place on earth where wild tigers, orangutans, elephants and rhinos are found in the same habitat, snare traps are estimated to have doubled between 2006 and 2014. The number of snare traps in Sumatra recorded in 2013 and 2014 are doubled, when compared to the preceding eight years, suggesting a higher number of poachers in the area.
Yet, many of such critical habitats lack adequate resources for protection. In nearby Rimbang Baling, one of several protected areas in Sumatra, only 26 rangers patrol over 1,400 square kilometres, an area equivalent to nearly twice the size of New York City.
In India, reported tiger deaths related to poaching reached an all time high in 2016. These reported figures might represent only a fraction of actual mortality. Electrocution and poisoning of the big cats have also been recorded across tiger habitats. With wildlife traps and electric wires embedded deep into the ground or hid among debris, the detection of these devices are often difficult and missed by forest guards who manually patrol our forests to ensure protection of our wildlife.
Mike Baltzer,
leader of WWF Tigers Alive
Snares are dangerous, insidious and quickly becoming a major contributor to the wave of extinction that is spreading throughout southeast Asia – and tigers are being swept up in this crisis. All efforts to recover wild tigers are now imperiled by snaring on a massive scale. We cannot over-emphasise the need for strong government commitment and investment in rangers who are on the frontline of conservation, clearing snares and apprehending those who set them.
Rohit Singh
Wildlife law enforcement expert
It’s impossible to know how many snares are being set up every day and threatening wildlife in these critical habitats. Hundreds of thousands of deadly snares are removed by rangers from Asia’s protected areas annually, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Ravi Singh
Secretary General and CEO, WWF-India
We have been working with communities on holistic approaches to conservation. Making them primary stakeholders in the protection of forests and its wildlife can go a long way in enhancing anti-poaching efforts of the country.
Dr Dipankar Ghose
Director, Species and landscapes
Snares are a problem in Asia. In India, while snares are used for poaching but there are other issues which are affecting the tiger population. Habitat degradation and habitat loss have a huge impact on tiger population. Often there are development projects, industries and roads which come up around the tiger reserves. If 500 resorts come up around the reserve, it means that it becomes an island. Tigers are large animals and need a large space to move about. Sometimes the movement happens through forests and at other times through human dominated landscapes. When industries or roads come up, they block the tiger corridors. Industries need to come up with solutions. For development, it is essential for roads and industries to come up and when we talk to a road engineer or a road construction company and tell them that a reallignment of the road is needed to avoid the forest or that they should include a mitigation measure like an overpass for the passage of a tiger and other animals, the response often is that why is it important to save the four or five tigers. But they need to understand that the future security of the national heritage of the country is at stake.
A higher GDP is important but what this needs to be focussed on too. We need to take into account development along with mitigation measures. At the Asia Ministerial Conference on tiger conservation, the Prime Minister did say that tiger conservation was important.