Indian tigers could be wiped out in 10 years

A new survey of India's tiger population has established that there are many fewer of the animals than previously believed, prompting fears that increased poaching could lead to their extinction within a decade.

The Wildlife Trust of India has revealed that there are few or no tigers left in at least six of the country's main reserves. According to official statistics, Namdapha in the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh had 61 tigers in 2002 but the trust assesses that there is only one animal now left. In Buxa in West Bengal, where 32 Indian tigers - also known as Royal Bengal tigers - were reported in 1997, none is thought to remain.

The disturbing new figures come a month before a planned national survey of tigers in India. "This is an extremely worrying development," said Ashok Kumar of the Wildlife Trust of India. "We're afraid that the poachers will now move on to the other, better-known reserves where tigers are still doing well. There's complete inaction at government level."

Unless the current rate of decline is reversed, the country's tiger population - 3,500 officially but perhaps as low as 1,500 - could be wiped out by 2015.



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/12/18/wtiger18.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/12/18/ixworld.html

the tiger isn't simply a magnificent beast at the top of the food chain in India (and the disappearance of top predators always causes significant harm to ecosystems), it's an important cultural symbol as well. Rudyard Kipling would be horrified by this news. :-(

This is abominable. A regal species of natural life senselessly exterminated for what? A trophy on a wall, or a friggin' coat? Is this a testament to the theory of Intelligent Design. Only human holocausts and genocide reek more the stench of monstorous inhumanity.