Tigers and Tribals in National Parks of India

Who needs more conservation; Tiger or the Tribes of India? This question has raised a lot of eyebrows from human and animal activists worldwide.

Baiga Tribe in Tiger country
Baiga an indigenous tribe

The Government in trying to protect a highly endangered species might relocate some tribal villages to give Tiger his inviolate space. The tribes in question are the Baigas, a very vulnerable tribe found in the central forests of India. They are specifically found in the districts of Mandla and Balaghat which houses Kanha National Park. The Tigers and these Tribes of India have been staying here for centuries. Baigas practice shifting cultivation, which the government feels drives deforestation. But i think it is the development strategy of the nation based on destruction which leads to deforestation.

Tiger and Tribes of India
Tiger in Tiger country

During my recent visit to the area via Nagpur i saw expansion of National Highway 7 at the cost of cutting few thousand trees at one go. One can debate that roads and infrastructure are important for development, but not by destructing the natural heritage. It is this expansion of roads network, and small Tehsils like Baihar, Paraswada, Birsa which are accounting for more deforestation than the tribals.

Need vs Greed taking toll on Tigers and Tribes of India

It is the greed of mining which is destroying forests at a much faster rate than what Tribals can destroy over next 200 years, i.e. if they do. These tribals are still alienated from the modern civilization, hence their wants, and desires are negligible. Yes they are dependent on the forest for their livelihood, but that has been the case for centuries. If they were plundering forests then the forests would have disappeared by now. Thanks to efforts of Ekta parishad which organized a lot of walks, and demonstrations, the Forest Act 2006 came in favor of the Tribals. http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/baiga-tribals-become-india-s-first-community-to-get-habitat-rights-52452.

Through this act, the tribals were entitled to be dependent on the forest for a living. Nobody could buy or sell their land. The land of a tribal could be bought and sold to a tribal only. Somehow this boon became their bane too. Now, when in need they cannot sell their land to anyone but a tribal. And the tribals do not have funds enough to buy the land. So what does the Baiga do? This law now needs a look in.

Kanha National Park
Kanha National Park

The actual loss of forests is due to the development and GDP of the country, and not by Baiga’s dependence on it. Yes, there might be some elements among the tribals who might be involved in poaching of some animals, but aren’t such elements also found in the upper crust in the urbanized world? Who are these people who lure these simple tribals into poaching? They are outsiders who for some paltry amount get these Tribals to poach. Will the poaching stop if Tribals are evicted from their homes? No, not at all. Poaching will only stop the day the demand of the animal parts stops. Surely that does not seem to be a possibility in the near future.

Does this problem have a solution?

With just over 2000 Tigers in India, and about 1.5 lakh Baigas, it is important that Tiger and Tribes are conserved in the national parks. Fact of the matter is that the 100 Tigers in Kanha cannot be relocated, period, but tribes can be shifted as per the government.


On one hand it is absolutely imperative that the Tiger is conserved, but not at the cost of the Tribals, not at all.

So what is a solution to this?  What do you say?

I can only pray that good sense prevails and everyone’s survival and rights are  kept in mind before deciding on anything that can impact nature. For me Tiger and Tribes are both integral to each other. None can be sent to another planet to survive, they must co-exist.

Best Wishes to the Tigers and the Tribes of India.

Sharad Vats

Drones to assist in Tiger Conservation in Indian National Parks

No longer it is Tiger vs Technology. It is Tigers with Technology now. Yes, finally technology will be used in Tiger Conservation in India.

When #Munna the legendary #Tiger from #KanhaNationalPark moved out from the #Jungle because of old age, everyone got worried for his safety. Where did Munna go? Was he involved in any conflict? Is Munna safe?

How do we track and conserve our Tigers in our open national parks? Or,

Did you hear about the missing Tiger “Jai” from #UmredKarandlaSanctuary?

Jai has suddenly disappeared from Umred Karandla Sanctuary.  The Forest department, NGO’s and many Volunteers are looking for him.

The social platforms went abuzz on what to do? Could technology be used to save the Tiger? When images of Jupiter from Junocrafts are available, then is it that tough to monitor Tigers? I don’t think so..do you?

If Drones were used earlier, Jai and Munna’s could have been tracked easily. When a Tiger goes missing it is a sad day in Tiger conservation. The Tiger lovers get distressed.

While i was thinking and writing, someone was planning and executing the same. Hence this morning i get to hear the good news of Drones to be used in Tiger Conservation in India. Is that not a heartening news for Tiger conservation?

After a successful trial of Drones in Panna National Park, the NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority) is going ahead to use these devices to monitor Tigers in 5 more Tiger reserves of India.

These reserves are: Panna, Corbett, Sathyamangalam, Kaziranga and Sunderbans. Noteworthy is that these drones will be fitted with GPS devices, and state of the art cameras. They will be deployed within 6 months of getting clearances from Ministry of Defense in India. Clearances from the Home Ministry and the Environment Ministry is already in place. The Wildlife Institute of India is set to impart training to 3 biologists, and 3 engineers per drone. Once successfully implemented similar Drones will be used in other National parks.

Drone for Tiger Tiger conservation
Drone with Camera

Are these regular drones or any improvisations being done?

These are state of the art Drones, with night vision, faster speed, longer duration of flight, and good landing capacities.

So poachers watch out, because now it is no longer going to be a cake walk for you to take our Tigers away from us. We are serious to Save our Tigers.

Best Wishes

Sharad Vats

Good News for ‎Tiger Lovers

Good news for #‎Tiger lovers. 32 more Tigers camera trapped in the Terai areas of Uttrakhand. These Tigers were not a part of the Tiger census in 2015 as these areas were not included in the census. Though this state has only two national parks with Tigers, but the Tiger numbers in this state are second only to Karnataka. Good news isn’t it?