Heavy traffic affecting tiger reproduction
Heavy traffic on highways is affecting the reproduction patterns of India’s tiger population. “Loss of reproduction owing to disturbance on account of heavy traffic on our highways,” has been cited as one of the main reasons for decline for the decline in tiger population, said environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
She emphasised in a written reply that increase in poaching, degradation of forest status outside tiger reserves owing to human pressure, livestock pressure and ecologically unsustainable land uses were other causes responsible for declining tiger numbers.
Fragmentation leading to loss of gene flow from source populations coupled with mortality of wild animals due to man-animal conflict is creating problems for tigers.
Lack of adequate protection in buffer areas and loss of forest quality which affect the tiger’s prey base are other key factors for their decline.
The minister also cited Naxalite insurgency and law and order problems in some tiger reserves as other major sources of concern in saving tigers.
Ms Natarajan, however, said the country level tiger population, assessed once in every four years using the refined methodology, has shown population of tigers continues to rise.
Quoting findings of the second countrywide assessment of the status of tigers indicated a countrywide 20 per cent increase in the number of tigers in the year 2010 with an estimated number of 1,706 tigers, Ms Natarajan said.
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