NTCA Report on Tiger Deaths- Relevance for UPSC Exam
- GS Paper 3: Environment- Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation;
NTCA Report on Tiger Deaths- Context
NTCA Report on Tiger Deaths- Key Findings
- Highest Tiger Deaths in a Year: The National Tiger Conservation Authority recorded 126 tiger deaths in the year 2021, the highest in the last decade.
- State-wise Tiger Deaths: As per NTCA findings, Madhya Pradesh at the maximum tiger deaths is followed by 26 in Maharashtra and 14 in Karnataka.
- Causes of Tiger Deaths: Tiger deaths are under the scrutiny of the state as well as the NCTA.
- NCTA said that there can be numerous causes for death as the population of tigers is huge and a standard operating procedure (SoP) is followed to ascertain the reasons.
Sunderban Tiger Reserve: Tigers Reaching Carrying Capacity
Tigers in India- Conservation Status
- Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Tigers are listed under Schedule I of the WLP Act.
- IUCN Red List: Tigers are listed under the ‘Endangered’ category of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
- CITES: Tigers are globally protected under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Tiger Conservation Efforts in India- Key Government Efforts
- Project Tiger: The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) launched Project Tiger in 1973 for protecting tigers in the country’s national parks.
- Project Tiger is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Environment Ministry.
- Establishment of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA): It was established in 2005 based on recommendations of the Tiger Task Force.
- Legal Status: National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
- Parent Legislation: National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) was established as per enabling provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 by amending it in 2006.
- M-STrIPES Initiative: M-STrIPES (Monitoring System for Tigers – Intensive Protection and Ecological Status) is an NTCA initiative that provides a mobile monitoring system for forest guards.
- ‘T X 2’ initiative of the Petersburg Tiger Summit: India achieved the target of doubling the tiger population (‘T X 2’ Slogan) four years ahead of schedule (2022) of the St. Petersburg Declaration on tiger conservation.
National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)