Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
lose their habitats, some coastlines are disrupted by ports, and agricultural land is used for
industry. But that threatens precious natural resources and the livelihood of the poor, so the
issue is how to ensure that development happens equitably, without devastating the envir-
onment and without adding to the already toxic air pollution, filthy rivers and health risks.
Tigers to China
The lack of public interest is demonstrated by the plight of wildlife, especially the tiger
and the elephant. The tiger is India's national animal and one of India's greatest natural
assets, yet there are only about 1,700 left in the country, according to a 2011 census that
than the 1400 recorded in 2008, though new areas were added in the survey, including the
important Sunderbans tidal mangrove forests in West Bengal. The increase was therefore
probably not significant, and the numbers were dramatically down from an estimated 3,500
in 2002, though again it is diffi cult to compare the figures because a new counting method
was used. If numbers continue to decline, eventual extinction of tigers in the wild would
seem to be inevitable. And if the government cannot get to grips with the survival of this
high-profile and iconic animal, it seems unlikely that it will be able to protect the rest of
India's natural heritage.
4
There is big money to be made by poaching tigers and smuggling their body parts out
of India. Wildlife trafficking is the third or fourth largest illegal trade in the world after
arms and narcotics, and is worth billions of dollars. 'India has a vast array of wildlife spe-
cies that are highly valued in the illegal trade - from the spiny-tailed lizard of the desert
to the musk deer of the Himalayan foothills to sea cucumbers from our coral reefs. And,
of course, tigers. Unfortunately tigers are valued more than most other species because of
their beauty, strength and power,' says Belinda Wright, one of India's leading wildlife con-
tiger - be it whiskers, eyeballs, penis or bones - has a use in traditional Chinese medicine,'
she says. WPSI's wildlife crime database illustrates the scale of the trade - it has informa-
tion on over 19,000 wildlife criminals and more than 22,000 wildlife cases involving some
tional market, an animal can account for tens of thousands of dollars. Lowly officials grow
rich on the kickbacks that they are paid to facilitate - or at least ignore - the poachers and
traders as the parts travel by land across India, into and across Nepal, and then into China.
Sadly, the wild tiger does not attract the sort of widespread public admiration in India
that it does abroad, even though it has a place in the Hindu religion with the goddess Durga
being worshipped riding a tiger. So it is easy for the government to issue reports and then
do little, and for senior bureaucrats in charge of protecting wildlife to be lauded internation-
