Lok Sabha Question No. 473 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-06
Subject: Genetic Inbreeding in Tiger Sub-Populations
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Bidyut Baran Mahato, Sambhajirao Mane Dhairyasheel, Sanjay Sadashivrao Mandlik, Dushyant Singh, Sudheer Gupta, Prataprao  Jadhav, Shrirang Appa Barne

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  473

TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.02.2023

## Genetic Inbreeding in Tiger Sub-Populations

## 473. SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

SHRI DUSHYANT SINGH:

SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE:

SHRI DHAIRYASHEEL SAMBHAJIRAO MANE:

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV:

SHRI SANJAY SADASHIVRAO MANDLIK:

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

- (a) whether it  is  a  fact  that  genetic  inbreeding  has  been  observed  in  tiger  sub-populations  in different  reserves  in  the  country  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof,  State-wise/district-wise, especially in Ranthambore and Mukundra Tiger Reserve;
- (b) the details of adverse effects of inbreeding and studies, if any, conducted on genetic variants caused due to inbreeding;
- (c) the steps taken/proposed to be taken to ensure inter-reserve mobility of tigers to dissuade inbreeding borne from isolation;
- (d) the States where Project Tiger is being implemented at present, State-wise;
- (e) the details of budgetary allocation and funds released under the said project during each of the last three years, State-wise;
- (f) the measures taken to prevent the increasing man-tiger conflict and to protect the tigers from unnatural deaths; and
- (g) the data regarding number, location, status and functionality of corridors between Ranthambore  National  Park,  Kuno  National  Park,  Madhav  National  Park  and  Mukundra Tiger Reserve and number of tigers utilizing afore-mentioned corridors, quarter-wise?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a) & (b) Inbreeding is not unnatural in small wild populations of large carnivores when they are isolated for generations. However, recent studies showed that the vital rates and reproductive parameters of Ranthambore tiger population are comparable with other tiger populations of India and do not show any signs of inbreeding depression. There are  no  reports  of  detrimental  effects  of  inbreeding  depression  in  the  wild  tigers  in India.
- (c) The  Government of India has taken following steps to ensure movements of tigers and other animals through corridors:
- (i) The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) along with the Wildlife Institute of  India  has  published  a  document  'Eco-Friendly  measures  to  mitigate  impacts  of Linear infrastructure on wildlife', in letter and spirit of section 38 O (1) (g) of the Wildlife  (Protection)  Act,  1972  to  safeguard  wildlife  and  tigers  from  road  /rail accidents in interlinking / corridor areas.
- (ii) The NTCA along with the Wildlife Institute of India, in letter and spirit of section 38 O  (1)  (g)  of  the  Wildlife  (Protection)  Act,  1972  have  identified  32  major  tiger corridors in the country and published them in a document titled ' Connecting Tiger Populations  for  Long-term  Conservation', which  are  operationalized  through prescriptions of a Tiger Conservation Plan mandated under section 38V of the said Act.
- (iii) The  NTCA  alongwith  the  Wildlife  Institute  of  India  has  conducted  sensitization workshops for agencies  involved  in  linear  infrastructure  development  which interalia include Indian  Railway  Traffic  Service  Probationers,  National  Highways Authority of India personnel, Indian Railway Engineers, transmission line agencies.
- (iv) Funding support through the ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger, is  provided  to  tiger  reserves  for  management  of  core  and  buffer  areas  including corridors, to deal with tigers dispersing out of source areas.
- (d) The Project Tiger is being implemented in 18 tiger range States, and the details are at Annexure-I.
- (e) The  details  of  budgetary allocation to the ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger, during the last three years are as under:

| Year    |   (Rs. in crore) |
|---------|------------------|
| 2019-20 |           282.57 |
| 2020-21 |           195    |
| 2021-22 |           220    |

The details of funds released to the State Governments under the ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger during the last three years is at Annexure-II .

- (f) The Government of India, through the National Tiger Conservation Authority, has advocated a three pronged strategy to manage human-tiger negative interactions as

follows:-

- (i) Material and logistical support: Funding support through the ongoing Centrally Sponsored  Scheme  of  Project  Tiger,  is  provided  to  tiger  reserves  for  acquiring capacity in terms of infrastructure and material, to deal with tigers dispersing out of source areas.  These are solicited by tiger reserves through an Annual Plan of Operation  (APO)  every  year  which  stems  out  from  an  overarching  Tiger Conservation Plan (TCP), mandated  under Section 38 V  of the Wildlife (Protection)  Act,  1972. Inter  alia, activities  such  as  payment  of  ex-gratia  and compensation,  periodic  awareness  campaigns  to  sensitize,  guide  and  advise  the general  populace  on  man-animal  conflict,  dissemination  of  information  through various forms of media, procurement of immobilization equipment, drugs, training and  capacity  building  of  forest  staff  to  deal  with  conflict  events  are  generally solicited.
- (ii) Restricting habitat interventions :  Based on the carrying capacity of tigers in a tiger reserve, habitat interventions are restricted through an overarching TCP.  In

case  tiger  numbers  are  at  carrying  capacity  levels,  it  is  advised  that  habitat interventions should be limited so that there is no excessive spill over of wildlife including tigers thereby minimizing man-animal conflict.  Further, in buffer areas around tiger reserves, habitat interventions are restricted such that they are suboptimal vis-à-vis the core/critical tiger habitat areas, judicious enough to facilitate dispersal to other rich habitat areas only.

- (iii) Standard  Operating  Procedure  (SOPs): The National Tiger Conservation Authority  has  issued  following  three  SOPs  to  deal  with  human-animal  conflict, which are available in public domain:
- i.  To  deal  with  emergency  arising  due  to  straying  of  tigers  in  human dominated landscapes
- ii. To deal with tiger depredation on livestock
- iii. For active management towards rehabilitation of tigers from source areas at the landscape level.

The  three  SOPs inter alia include the issue of managing  dispersing  tigers, managing  livestock  kills  so  as  to  reduce  conflict  as  well  as  relocating  tigers  from source areas to areas where density of tiger is low, so that conflict in rich source areas does not occur.

Also as per Tiger Conservation Plans need based and site-specific management interventions are undertaken by the tiger reserves for improving the quality of wildlife habitat and funding support for these activities is provided under the ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger.

- (g) There are three identified corridors which connect Ranthambore Tiger Reserve with Kuno National Park, Madhav National Park, and Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve.  The Government of Rajasthan has notified a new Tiger Reserve 'Ramgarh Visdhari' to ensure corridor connectivity for genetic exchange within this landscape. The details  of  these  corridors  and  known  tiger  movements  using  the  corridors  are given below:
1. Ranthambore  Tiger  Reserve  -  Baler  -  Maharajpura  -  Kuno  -  Madhav National Park

T56 - Male tiger reached Datia forests of Madhya Pradesh using this corridor

T38  -  Male  tiger  returned  back  to  Ranthambhore  Tiger  Reserve  from  Kuno National Park in 2020-21

2. Ranthambore Tiger Reserve - Sevti Chambal - Kuno - Madhav National Park

T38 - Male tiger dispersed to Kuno National Park using this corridor in 2010

3. Ranthambore  Tiger  Reserve  -  Indiragarh  -  Ramgarh  Vishdhari  Tiger Reserve - Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve

Broken  Tail,  cub  of  Machli  -  Male  tiger  dispersed  to  Mukundara  Hills  Tiger Reserve from Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in 2003

T91  -  Male  tiger  dispersed  to  Ramgarh  Vishdahri  Tiger  Reserve  in  2017-18, later on translocated to Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve T98 - Male tiger from Ranthambore Tiger Reserve dispersed to Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve in 2019 T115 - Male tiger dispersed to Ramgarh Vishdahri Tiger Reserve in 2021

*****

Annexure-I

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (d)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  473  ON  GENETIC  INBREEDING  IN  TIGER  SUBPOPULATIONS DUE FOR REPLY ON 06.02.2023

Details of tiger range States, where Project Tiger is being implemented

|   Sl. No. | State             |
|-----------|-------------------|
|         1 | Andhra Pradesh    |
|         2 | Arunachal Pradesh |
|         3 | Assam             |
|         4 | Bihar             |
|         5 | Chhattisgarh      |
|         6 | Jharkhand         |
|         7 | Karnataka         |
|         8 | Kerala            |
|         9 | Madhya Pradesh    |
|        10 | Maharashtra       |
|        11 | Mizoram           |
|        12 | Odisha            |
|        13 | Rajasthan         |
|        14 | Tamil Nadu        |
|        15 | Telangana         |
|        16 | Uttarakhand       |
|        17 | Uttar Pradesh     |
|        18 | West Bengal       |

*****

Annexure-II ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (e)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  473  ON  GENETIC  INBREEDING  IN  TIGER  SUBPOPULATIONS DUE FOR REPLY ON 06.02.2023 Details of funds released to the State Governments under the ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger during the last three years

(Rs. in lakhs)

| Sl. No.   | State             |   2019-20 |   2020-21 |   2021-22 |
|-----------|-------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh    |    114.48 |    266.51 |    292.11 |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh |    846.31 |    803.76 |    869.08 |
| 3         | Assam             |   2198.76 |   2513.9  |   1476.75 |
| 4         | Bihar             |    562.84 |    628.89 |    552.72 |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh      |    358.53 |    471.16 |    355.85 |
| 6         | Jharkhand         |   1432.07 |    128.45 |    195.06 |
| 7         | Karnataka         |   2252.03 |   2118.01 |   2956.7  |
| 8         | Kerala            |    607.07 |    402.88 |    868.78 |
| 9         | Madhya Pradesh    |   3501.91 |   2551.26 |   3523.52 |
| 10        | Maharashtra       |   7220.39 |   3098.03 |   2991.06 |
| 11        | Mizoram           |    337.7  |    161.53 |    374.13 |
| 12        | Odisha            |   1303.32 |    680.07 |   1056.86 |
| 13        | Rajasthan         |   1203.19 |   1008.89 |    841.05 |
| 14        | Tamil Nadu        |   1586.91 |   1336.14 |   1576.22 |
| 15        | Telangana         |    359.91 |    351.97 |    543.26 |
| 16        | Uttarakhand       |   1242.49 |   1671.3  |   1463.71 |
| 17        | Uttar Pradesh     |   2289.18 |    923.29 |   1304.85 |
| 18        | West Bengal       |    758.47 |    333.96 |    708.28 |
|           | TOTAL             |  28175.6  |  19450    |  21950    |

*****