The number of tigers in the country has increased but the manpower manning them has not. As per the latest tiger census, the number of the predators in the country has risen by 33 per cent in last four years to 2,967,however, on an average the tiger reserves are reeling under shortage of staff with 30 per cent posts lying vacant.
A senior Government official from the Union Environment Ministry said that vacancies pertain to forest guards, forest rangers, forest section officers who are essential for wildlife conservation, grassland management and rigorous protection from poaching and illegal tree-fellers lying vacant.
According to the recent data available from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), number wise, there are just 11,500 staff protecting manning the 2,967 big cats in the 50 tiger reserves across the country.
The tiger reserves are just not the home of big cats but also the habitat of rich bio-diversity and a considerable wildlife population, including big predators like leopards and faunas such as swamp deer, neel gai, hispid hare and stag, to name a few, which needs conservation and protection from wildlife smugglers, the official pointed out.
Tiger reserves such as Sundarbans in West Bengal, Anamalai in Tamil Nadu, Pakke in East Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India, and Kawal tiger reserves in Telangana have reported acute shortage of staff with half of the total sanctioned posts lying vacant.
Valmiki tiger reserve in Bihar which has 31 tigers and ten cubs is grappling with acute shortage of vacancy with 86 per cent posts yet to be filled, speaking volumes of existing gaps in the management.
Sources said that most of the employees at VTR are daily wagers and not permanent employees. They also lack the required skill and interest. In fact, the contractual staff are being deployed at most of the tiger reserves.
Vivek Menon, CEO of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) said: “Forest guards are the backbone of India’s wildlife and habitat protection system. They are the guardians of its natural heritage and at the frontline of the fight against poachers and timber smugglers who are sometimes far better armed and equipped.
It is thus important that this force remains trained and highly motivated to tackle diverse threats it is being faced with. From time to time we have been conducting workshops with the State Governments to strengthen staff morale and sharpen their skills.”
Interestingly, between 2012 and 2018, 657 tiger deaths were reported in India, most of them (48% or 313) due to natural causes and 21% or 138 due to poaching, NTCA data says. Of the 138 poaching deaths, Madhya Pradesh reported the most (22% or 30), followed by Karnataka (24) and Maharashtra (18).
