Lok Sabha Question No. 2816 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-28
Subject: Poaching of Tigers and Rhinoceros
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: VASANTHI M.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2816

TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.12.2018

## Poaching of Tigers and Rhinoceros

## 2816.  SHRIMATI VASANTHI M.:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Indian wildlife experts have urged the Government to be vigilant against poaching of tigers and rhinoceros after China eased a 25 year old ban on the trade of body parts of the animals;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  decision  by  China  is  likely  to  result  in  decline  in  the  population  of animals and has potential grave and devastating implications for tiger and rhinoceros conservation in India; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

- (a) The  Government  of  India  is  aware  of  the  said  move.    However,  the  recent reversal of the ban relating to use of tiger and rhino body parts for medicine by the Chinese government has been postponed by them.
- (b) Question does not arise.
- (c) Yes, Madam.
- (d) The Government of India through the National Tiger Conservation Authority has  taken  several  milestone  initiatives  to  safeguard  tigers  and  rhinos  in  the country which are at Annexure-I.

***

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (d) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2816 ON POACHING OF TIGERS AND RHINOCEROS DUE FOR REPLY ON 28.12.2018

The Government of India through the National Tiger Conservation Authority has taken several milestone initiatives to safeguard tigers and rhinos in the country:-

1. Amendment of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 in 2006 to provide enabling provisions for constituting the National Tiger Conservation Authority under section 38 IV B and the Tiger and Other Endangered Species Crime Control Bureau under section 38 IV C.
2. Enhancement of punishment for offence in relation to the core area of a tiger reserve or where the offence relate to hunting in the tiger reserves or altering the boundaries of tiger reserves, etc.
3. Comprehensive  guidelines  under  section  38O  1  (c)  of  the  Wildlife  (Protection)  Act,  1972 issued for Project Tiger and Tourism in Tiger Reserves on 15 th October, 2012.
4. Raising, arming and deploying the Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF) in tiger reserves.
5. In  collaboration  with  TRAFFIC-INDIA, an online tiger mortality data base is  operational and Generic Guidelines for preparation of reserve specific Security Plan have been prepared which form a basis for antipoaching strategies in the overarching Tiger Conservation Plan.
6. Based on International standards, security audit framework of the NTCA has been validated for  implementing  across  all  tiger  reserves.    25  tiger  reserves  have  been  assessed  for  their  security protocols through this framework.
7. Steps  taken  for modernizing  the  infrastructure  and  field protection,  besides  launching 'Monitoring system for Tigers' Intensive Protection and Ecological Status (M-STrIPES)' for effective field patrolling and monitoring.  The M-STrIPES application has been made android based with three distinct modules, viz. patrol, ecological and conflict.
8. All India Tiger, Co-predators and Prey Estimation, 2014:The third round of country level tiger status assessment completed in 2014, with findings indicating an increase with a tiger population estimate of 2226 (lower and upper limits being 1945 and 2491 respectively), as compared to the last country level estimation of 2010, with an estimate of 1706 (lower and upper limits being 1520-1909 tigers), and 2006 estimation, with an estimate of 1411 (lower and upper limits being 1165 and 1657). At present, India has around 70% of tiger population and its source areas amongst the 13 tiger range countries  in  the  world,  owing  to  its  long  history  of  conserving  the  species  through  Project  Tiger (2.21% of country's geographical area spread out in 50 tiger reserves in 18 States).
9. Management  Effectiveness  Evaluation  (MEE) :  A  report  on  Management  Effectiveness Evaluation  (MEE)  of  Tiger  Reserves  was  released  in  January,  2015,  containing  the  third  round  of independent assessment based on refined criteria done in 2013-14 for 43 tiger reserves.  Out of 43 tiger reserves, 17 were rated as 'very good', 16 as 'good' and 10 as 'fair'.
10. Following  Standard  Operating  Procedures  (SOPs)  have  been  issued  in  thematic  areas  of recurring nature:
11. (a) A 'Standard Operating Procedure' for dealing with tiger deaths.
12. (b) A 'Standard Operating Procedure' for dealing with straying tigers in human dominated landscape.
13. (c) A 'Standard Operating Procedure' for disposing tiger/leopard carcass/body parts.
14. (d) A 'Standard Operating Procedure' to deal with orphaned / abandoned tiger cubs and old / injured tigers in the wild.
15. (e) A 'Standard Operating Procedure' to deal with tiger depredation on livestock.
16. (f) A 'Standard Operating Procedure' for Interstate Co-ordination amongst tiger reserves that share boundary.
17. (g) A  'Standard  Operating  Procedure'  for  active  management  towards  rehabilitation  of tigers from source areas at landscape level.
11. Phase-IV tiger reserve level, continuous monitoring of tigers using camera traps and building up data on photo captures of individual tigers, has been institutionalized.
12. A national repository of camera trap photo IDs of individual tigers has been created.
13. Economic Valuation of six tiger reserves done in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Forest Management.  Similar exercise is being done for 10 more tiger reserves.
14. Trial of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for monitoring done in the Panna Tiger Reserve (Madhya Pradesh), in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India and now getting extended to 13 other tiger reserves too.  Frontline staff has been capacity built and first set of equipment handed over at the Panna Tiger Reserve.
15. National Tiger Conservation Authority and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau have established an online tiger / wildlife crime tracking / reporting system in tiger reserves.
16. To assess status of tiger bearing areas outside tiger reserves, the CA|TS (Conservation Assured |  Tiger  Standards)  framework  is  being  used,  which  helps  identify  inadequacies  in  management interventions in such areas so that gaps can be addressed through appropriate strategies.
17. Initiative has been taken to come out with a sub-continental level tiger estimation report along with Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
18. Action  has  been  taken  to  assess  occupancy  of  tigers  in  high  altitude  landscapes,  in  project mode with the Global Tiger Forum.
19. On completion of pilot e-surveillance project in Corbett Tiger Reserve (Uttarakhand), central assistance (100%) has been provided for installing 24X7 e-surveillance at Kaziranga Tiger Reserve (Assam) and fringes of Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary (Madhya Pradesh).
20. A Rhino Task Force has suggested measures to strengthen rhino protection in the Kaziranga Tiger Reserve.
21. Special Rhino Protection Force at Kaziranga Tiger Reserve has been raised.
22. A health insurance scheme for forest guards in Kaziranga Tiger Reserve is supported by the Government of India through the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

***