 Tigers are a valuable part of India's wildlife habitat but are fast diminishing in numbers at the hands of unscrupulous poachers. This has been the deadliest in recent years for the big cats - the tigers - in India. The government has been making all the right noises about its efforts to save the tigers but the results, so far, have been little to roar about.
The ministry of environment and forests has confirmed that the first six months of 2009 accounted for a total of 45 tiger deaths. It is a huge number as compared to the government statistics of 28 tiger deaths in 2008 and 27 in 2007.
Despite millions being pumped into saving tigers and interventions at the highest level, India has been unable to protect the tigers for numerous reasons. An important reason is increase in poaching of tigers and the government's failure to control it.
Home to 60 percent of the world's tigers, India initiated the 'Project Tiger' in 1972 to ensure maintenance of a viable population of tigers and to preserve them for scientific, economic, cultural and ecological values in the country.
Several reserves were established across the country to facilitate the tiger population against poaching, habitat destruction, and forestry disturbance, loss of prey and most importantly from the man-animal conflict. At present 37 reserves are functional in India. Implementation of the Project Tiger however, yielded little results. The Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) in Mayurbhanj district, the fourth biggest reserve in India, has lost 40 Royal Bengal tigers in the last five years. It boosted a total population of 101 tigers in 2004 and has just 61 tigers left.
The Panna tiger reserve, located in the Madhya Pradesh (M.P.) State of India, Periyar tiger reserve in Kerala, Sunderbans tiger reserve in West Bengal and Ranthambhore tiger reserve in Rajasthan are a few examples, out of the total 37 reserves, where tigers have been reported “missing.”
What comes as more shocking is the increasing number of “missing” tigers, feared dead within the “safe” parameters of these reserves. According to a report issued by the Central Special Investigative Team earlier this year, not a single tiger was left in Panna tiger reserve. The report said that “organised” tiger poaching was being practised in the reserve for the past seven years, decreasing the number of tigers from 30 in 2002 to one in 2009.
Reasons for the killings are numerous but what now concerns the authorities and wildlife experts is the seemingly failed status of the reserve administrations to stop the poachers from their illegal activities who make their way even inside the safe boundaries of the conservation reserves.
Chairperson, National Tiger Conservation Authority, Sunita Narain put the blame on the government. “The government has been unable to control poaching. There is no dearth of funds with the government. But it is unable to protect the tigers because the guards are too old and cannot run around the reserves to break the nexus of poachers," said Narain.
Another contributing factor behind the declining number of tigers is the conflict between tigers fighting amongst themselves. Also, increasing human presence results in lessening of their habitat. Cases have been reported where human-animal conflicts have been on the rise as sometimes these tigers stray into villages.
Another sign of the man-animal conflict is poisoning. Statistics reveal that at least 12 tiger deaths this year in the tiger reserves in India were due to poisoning. If a tiger is poached or poisoned, most of the times locals are involved directly or indirectly, and are found to be supporting professional poachers.
The mass number of tiger killings has sparked protests amongst the Indian wildlife experts and has forced the Indian government to probe into the matter. Minister for Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh is working to get the tiger reserves their own aircraft for surveillance and monitoring, along with a net of motion sensors.
In a boost to tiger conservation efforts, the Indian government has also approved a proposal for implementing the tripartite agreement between the Environment Ministry, State Governments and tiger reserves. The agreement will ensure better utilisation of funds and increased accountability and responsibility for all three parties. 
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