India to launch global alliance for big cats, invest $100 million

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The Indian Express reported that India has proposed to launch International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) under its leadership to protect big cats and assured support over five years with guaranteed funding of $100 million (over Rs 800 crore.  The proposed Alliance will work towards the protection and conservation of the seven major big cats — tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, puma, jaguar and cheetah. Membership to the alliance will be open to 97 “range” countries, which contain the natural habitat of these big cats, as well as other interested nations, international organisations, etc.

India is the only country in the world to have tigers, lions, leopards, snow leopards and cheetahs in the wild. India has all the big cats, except the pumas and jaguars today.

Tiger Conservation in India:

The Government of India has taken a pioneering initiative for conserving its national animal, the tiger, by launching the “Project Tiger” in 1973. From 9 tiger reserves since its formative years, the Project Tiger coverage has increased to 51 at present, spread out in 18 of our tiger range states. This amounts to around 2.23% of the geographical area of our country.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has been constituted under section 38 L (1) of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Further, as per the section 38 L, sub section 2 of the said Act, the authority consists of the Minister in charge of the Ministry of Environment and Forests ( as Chairperson), the Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment and Forests (as Vice-Chairperson), three members of Parliament, Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests and other members.

Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards (CA|TS) has been agreed upon as accreditation tool by the global coalition of Tiger Range Countries (TRCs) and has been developed by tiger and protected area experts. Officially launched in 2013, it sets minimum standards for effective management of target species and encourages assessment of these standards in relevant conservation areas. CA|TS is a set of criteria which allows tiger sites to check if their management will lead to successful tiger conservation.

The 14 tiger reserves which have been accredited are Manas, Kaziranga and Orang in Assam, Satpura, Kanha and Panna in Madhya Pradesh, Pench in Maharashtra, Valmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar, Dudhwa in Uttar Pradesh,Sunderbans in West Bengal, Parambikulam in Kerala, Bandipur Tiger Reserve of Karnataka and Mudumalai and Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu.

Conservation of Asiatic Lions:

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India has launched the “Asiatic Lion Conservation Project” with an aim to protect and conserve the world’s last ranging free population of Asiatic Lion and its associated ecosystem.

“The Asiatic Lion Conservation Project” aims to strengthen the ongoing measures for conservation and recovery of Asiatic Lion with the help of state-of-the –art techniques/ instruments, regular scientific research studies, disease management, Modern surveillance/ patrolling techniques.

Asiatic lions that once ranged from Persia (Iran) to Palamau in Eastern India were almost driven to extinction by indiscriminate hunting and habitat loss. A single population of less than 50 lions persisted in the Gir forests of Gujarat by late 1890's. With timely and stringent protection offered by the State Government and the Center Government, Asiatic lions have increased to the current population of over 500 numbers. The last census in the year 2015 showed the population of 523 Asiatic Lions in Gir Protected Area Network of 1648.79 sq. km. that includes Gir National Park, Gir Sanctuary, Pania Sanctuary, Mitiyala Sanctuary adjoining reserved forests, Protected Forests, and Unclassed Forests.

Leopards:

As per the latest survey, India now has 12,852 leopards as compared to the previous estimate of 7910 conducted 2014. More than 60% increase in population has been recorded. The States of Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra recorded the highest leopard estimates at 3,421, 1,783 and 1,690 respectively.

Snow Leopards:

In India, their geographical range encompasses a large part of the western Himalayas including the states and UTs of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. Protecting the snow leopard and its habitat ensures protection of the major Himalayan rivers that support the teeming millions downstream. It also ensures that the ecological balance is maintained in these fragile ecosystems.This multi-lateral programme comprises of 12 snow leopard range countries and they have developed national priorities and identified large landscapes to support viable populations of snow leopards. During the virtual meet community volunteer programme “HimalSanrakshak” was launched by Shri Supriyofollowed by the release of origami notebook based on the theme of combatting illegal trade in wildlife.

The Government of India has identified the snow leopard as a flagship species for the high-altitude Himalayas.

First National Protocol was also launched last year on Snow Leopard Population Assessment which has been very useful for monitoring populations.In line with other projects, this initiative exclusively focuses on developing landscape-based management plans, habitat restoration plans, livelihoods improvement, mitigation of wildlife crime and illegal trade in wildlife, human-wildlife conflict mitigation strategies, improving awareness and communications strategies.

Cheetah:

The Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) is a critically endangered cheetah subspecies currently only surviving in Iran. (The Asiatic cheetah became extinct in India in 1948; the cheetahs which were reintroduced in 2022, are the African subspecies, the Southeast African cheetah.) It once occurred from the Arabian Peninsula and the Near East to the Caspian region, Transcaucasus, Kyzylkum Desert and northern South Asia, but was extirpated in these regions during the 20th century. The Asiatic cheetah diverged from the cheetah population in Africa between 32,000 and 67,000 years ago.

Cheetah reintroduction in India

Discussions on cheetah reintroduction in India began soon after extinction was confirmed, in the mid-1950s. Proposals were made to the governments of Iran from the 1970s, but fell through chiefly for reasons of political instability there. Offers from Kenya for introducing African cheetahs were made as early as the 1980s. Proposals for the introduction of African cheetahs were made by the Indian government in 2009, but disallowed by India's supreme court. The court reversed its decision in early 2020, allowing the import of a small number, on an experimental basis for testing long-term adaptation. On 17 September 2022, five female and three male southeast African cheetahs, between the ages of four and six (a gift from the government of Namibia), were released in a small quarantined enclosure within the Kuno National Park in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

 

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