Wildlife Week 2024 Special: International Big Cat Alliance and India

Tiger (Panthera Tigris)

Panthera tigris tigris, the continental tiger, and Panthera tigris sondaica, the Sunda tiger, are the 2 recognised subspecies of tigers. For hunting purposes, tigers mostly trust connected proceeding and show alternatively than smell. They usually stalk their prey portion hunting alone. According to the World Wildlife Fund, implicit 80 pounds of nutrient tin beryllium consumed by a tiger successful 1 sitting.

According to the 5th rhythm of the All India Tiger Estimation 2022 summary report, India is location to astir 3,167 tigers, accounting for much than 70 per cent of the world’s chaotic tigers.

Tiger (Photo source: Wikimedia Commons)

Steps taken towards conservation

Indian Board for Wild Life (IBWL): The International Union for Conservation of Nature endorsed the board’s connection to outright forbid the export of immoderate chaotic feline skins, including tigers’.

Project Tiger: It was a centrally sponsored strategy launched successful 1973 successful 9 reserves passim the states of Assam, Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and West Bengal.

National Tiger Conservation Authority: The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) were established arsenic statutory agencies aft the amendments successful the Wildlife (Protection) Act successful 2006 connected the study of the Tiger Task Force.

Bilateral Cooperation: India has been actively collaborating with neighbouring countries to heighten transboundary conservation efforts similar India-Bangladesh to beforehand tiger conservation crossed the Sundarbans landscape. India and Cambodia signed a MoU focused connected “Cooperation successful biodiversity conservation and sustainable wildlife absorption betterment strategy of tiger and its habitat,” according to the Ministry of External Affairs website.

Conservation Assured Tiger Standards (CA|TS) Accreditation: It is an planetary accreditation strategy that assesses absorption techniques successful tiger reserves to marque definite they adhere to strict conservation guidelines.

International Big Cats Alliance (IBCA): It was launched by the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, successful 2023 to beforehand the extortion of 7 large cats: the tiger, leopard, snowfall leopard, lion, cheetah, puma and jaguar during a programme honouring 50 years of Project Tiger. The confederation seeks to found interaction with a spectrum of countries that situation these ample cats’ autochthonal habitats. The IBCA aims to summation planetary collaboration and conservation efforts for these untamed inhabitants.

Lion (Panthera Leo)

One volition find 3 to forty animals successful the prides of lion. These large cats tin hunt prey and support their country arsenic a radical successful pride. The bulk of hunting and cub rearing activities are done by the females. Most sociable erstwhile compared to different large feline species, they are recovered successful parts of sub-Saharan Africa, a tiny colonisation of Asiatic lions successful India’s Gir National Park, and a severely endangered subpopulation successful West Africa. Because of their singular adaptability, lions tin unrecorded successful a wide scope of environments, specified arsenic semi-arid godforsaken regions, dense shrubbery, adust forests, and floodplains. They usually similar unfastened savannas since it is simpler for them to stalk their prey there.

August 10 is World Lion Day — an yearly lawsuit started by Big Cat Rescue, the largest accredited large feline sanctuary successful the world. It was instituted to rise consciousness of the rapidly diminishing lion colonisation and the captious request for their conservation. Despite the information that lions awe america with their powerfulness and beauty, poaching, situation degradation, and struggle with different wildlife person each contributed to the diminution successful the lion population.

Lion (Photo source: Wikimedia Commons)

Conservation efforts

Project Lion: It was announced connected August 15, 2020, ‘Project Lion’ is simply a pivotal inaugural aimed astatine securing the aboriginal of Asiatic lions done comprehensive, semipermanent conservation efforts. The task focuses connected creating and maintaining a sustainable situation wherever lions tin survive. The cardinal components of the task see improving habitat, and monitoring done vigor collars and camera traps, portion besides addressing human-wildlife conflict.

Advanced Technologies successful Lion Conservation: These technologies play a important relation successful the conservation, protection, and improvement efforts of the Greater Gir Region. The usage of precocious ICT includes GPS-Based Tracking, Automated Sensor Grid, Night Vision Capabilities, GIS-Based Real-Time Monitoring and Safety Enhancements.

Greater Gir Concept: The conception involves processing further habitats for lions beyond Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary. There are assorted different wildlife sanctuaries suitable for lions similar Girnar, Pania, and Mitiyala.

World Wildlife Fund: WWF supported the barricading of 180 wells with section partners and the Gujarat Forest Department which led to an summation successful the subsidy by the Government of Gujarat.

Leopard (Panthera Pardus)

There are 9 taxon of leopards, which are recovered successful some Asia and Africa. As 1 moves passim this tremendous geographic region, each of them changes successful quality and biology. However, they each person the aforesaid highly gorgeous black-spotted coat, fantabulous stealth, and elusive character, according to World Wildlife India.

The leopard, the smallest of the large cats, is good known for its quality to accommodate to a assortment of settings. This taxon is simply a nocturnal mammal, they tin hunt astatine night. It eats smaller herbivorous animals recovered successful its vicinity, specified arsenic hog deer, chital, and chaotic boar.

These large cats are highly agile mammals, they walk overmuch of their clip sleeping atop trees. It hardly ever takes naps and precise seldom moves around. Its repast has been seen to beryllium carried up onto trees.

The leopard is not among the taxon for whom a “species-specific conservation program” has been defined due to the fact that determination is nary grounds that the taxon is astatine hazard of going extinct successful the country.

Leopard successful India

The “Status of Leopards successful India, 2022” study states that determination were 13784 leopards successful India successful 2022 compared to 12,852 successful 2018.

According to the report, Central India and Eastern Ghats person the highest colonisation of leopards (8,820), followed by the Western Ghats (3,596), and the Shivalik Hills and Gangetic Plains (1,109).

The maximum colonisation of leopards is recovered successful Madhya Pradesh (3907) followed by Maharashtra (1985), and Karnataka (1879).

Studies connected the presumption of leopards successful protected areas and however they usage wildlife corridors are being carried retired by WWF-India. The World Wildlife Fund offers assistance to bolster anti-poaching endeavours wrong protected regions, thereby mitigating the poaching of leopards.

Snow leopard (Panthera uncia)

Snow Leopards, besides known arsenic “Ghost of the Mountains” tin ascent steep hills easy portion their rear legs assistance them to leap implicit six times of their ain magnitude of the body. They person a agelong process which helps them successful balancing their body. These snowfall leopards are not detected easy arsenic they tin blend themselves with their surroundings.

The mountainous regions of 12 Asian countries—Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan—make up the situation scope of the snowfall leopard.

Snow Leopard (Photo source: Wikimedia Commons)

Snow leopard successful India

A survey taken by the Snow Leopard Population Assessment successful India (SPAI) has estimated a colonisation of 718 Snow Leopards successful Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. Most of the situation of the Snow Leopard is not accessible by roads.

The notation constituent is provided by the caput and process of a snowfall leopard. Earlier, the researchers person tried to presumption cameras successful a mode to seizure the forehead portion of snowfall leopards. The aforesaid process was followed successful Ladakh during the contiguous SPAI exercise.

(Source: IUCN, Wildlife Protection Act, 1972)

Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)

Cheetahs tin locomotion with a agelong stride due to the fact that of their long, slender limbs, coagulated ft pads, and flexible spine. They person a assemblage specially designed to alteration them to execute highest speeds. It tin accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h successful 3 seconds, making it the lone feline without retractable claws.

They are well-known for their tawny coats speckled with achromatic dots, which are placed successful a distinctive signifier to assistance successful carnal identification.

They person quirky eyesight which helps them to find prey successful the daytime. Their prey includes small- to medium-size animals, specified arsenic hares, gazelles, calves, and impalas. The taxon similar grasslands recovered successful Asia and Africa.

Cheetah (Photo source: Wikimedia Commons)

Cheetah successful India

According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority, In 1952, the cheetah bid farewell to India, succumbing to a culmination of threats. They are gradually decreasing successful fig and prey basal owed to reasons which see large-scale captures for coursing, bounties, and sports hunting, coupled with situation fragmentation and destruction. The 20th period saw a terrible diminution successful the fig of Cheetahs intensified by inappropriate conservation efforts successful Indian reserves.

Earlier successful 2022, the Government of India decided to present the Cheetah, the lone ample carnivore taxon that went extinct successful Independent India. The re-introduction of the African Cheetahs was done to Kuno National Park and aboriginal Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary was made 2nd location for Cheetahs. Both the Kuno National Park and Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary are situated successful Madhya Pradesh. The scenery of these sanctuaries looks similar Maasai Mara, a reserve known for its savanna wilderness successful Africa.

Black panthers (Panthera Pardus)

Black panthers are “melanistic” members of the Panthera genus alternatively than being a abstracted species. Panthera besides includes lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, and snowfall leopards. Melanism is defined arsenic the occurrence of individuals that are darker successful pigmentation. There tin beryllium 2 reasons down it: polymorphisms wrong taxon oregon accordant saltation betwixt intimately related species. This melanism provides superior camouflage lone successful the densest and darkest forests. This melanism provides superior camouflage lone successful the densest and darkest forests.

Jaguar and Puma

These large cats are not autochthonal to India and are chiefly recovered successful the portion of South America.

Jaguars (Panthera Onca)

Jaguars are distinguished swimmers, they are the largest feline successful South America. In bid to hunt for the prey, they ascent up the trees to termination their prey with a single, vicious bite.

Jaguars are babelike connected the prey recovered successful rivers including fish, turtles, and alligator-like creatures. They are besides babelike connected ample taxon specified arsenic deer, tapirs, and capybaras.

Jaguar (Photo source: Wikimedia Commons)

The colonisation of Jaguars person decreased by fractional implicit the past period owed to deforestation and cultivation practices. It has led to diminution successful the numbers contempt aggregate conservation efforts.

For instance, WWF has been tracking the populations of the Jaguars successful the Napo-Putumayo Corridor, a wood spanning done Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

Puma (Puma concolor)

Puma, sometimes referred to arsenic a upland lion, cougar, oregon panther, is the biggest of the “small cats.”

They tin beryllium recovered successful woods, prairies, wetlands, and deserts, among different types of environments. These upland lions similar to unrecorded successful isolation which does not mean that they bash not pass with each other.

Mountain lions person huge, crisp claws connected their paws and a muscular build. They tin leap agelong distances due to the fact that their backmost legs are stronger and bigger than their beforehand ones.

Habitat and Gestation Period of Big Cats

(Sources: ntca.gov.in, http://www.worldwildlife.org, iucn.org, nationalgeographic.com)

Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and enactment updated with the quality cues from the past week.

Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – IndianExpress UPSC Hub, and travel america on Instagram and X.