Relocating India's Tigers to Conserve the Global Population

For those seeking an encounter with one of the world's most most awe-inspiring and endangered big cats, Tiger holidays into the jungles and nature reserves of the Indian sub-continent are the most accessible way to experience a sighting.

Day and night drives through the Bandhavgarh National Park, Panna National Park, Pench National Park or the Kanha Tiger Reserve afford participants the opportunity for multiple sightings in what is, for most, a once-in-a-lifetime wildlife experience. They also provide the chance to see a huge range of other species as well, including the abundant avian life and large mammals like the Sambar, Spotted Deer and Wild Boar, among others.

There is, of course, a reason the majority of dedicated Tiger holidays are conducted in India – the country is home to more than half the global population of the big cat. Although there are ongoing conservation programmes in place, numbers of the big cat have been in alarming decline over the past decades. While this year conservationists say the global population has increased for the first time in a century, the animal is extinct or almost extinct in many countries where it once thrived.

Relocate to Regenerate

In an innovative move, a recent proposal to relocate some of India's estimated 2,226 Tigers to countries where numbers have declined or disappeared entirely was agreed to, in principle, by ministers from 13 nations.

The Global Tiger Forum, an inter-governmental organisation dedicated to the prevention of the extinction of the big cat, raised the proposal, stating that relocation was "one of the effective measures for the recovery of populations."

A Considered Move

With Cambodia proposed as the first Asian country to benefit from the programme, the Global Tiger Forum has assured that no relocation of Indian big cats would take place before vital preparation of proposed habitat was implemented, including the establishment of smaller prey species.

India's Environmental Minister has committed to the programme, saying the government would offer its full cooperation to ensure the global conservation of the animal.

The ministerial meeting also discussed the possibility of relocating Amur Tigers from Russia to Kazakhstan, where the population has become extinct.

On the Move Closer to Home

As well as proposing the inter-country relocations, CEO of the Global Tiger Forum, Keshav Varma, suggested that there could also be benefits in moving the numbers of the animal within India itself, in order to create a more equitable density of the population. In some reserves in the country there are currently just two or three females, whereas in others there are many more.

The opportunity to observe wildlife in its natural habitat is an incredible privilege, and when it relates to animals that are critically endangered, it becomes even more so.
Tiger holidays that take participants to prime habitats in the Indian sub-continent still offer the best opportunity to encounter the big cat. However, with this broad-minded approach, and a global commitment to the regeneration of the big cat's population, conservationists' ambitious goal to double the total number (currently an estimated 3,900) by 2022 may yet be within reach.