The Majestic King of the Forest

Maraj, R., Seidensticker, J. 2006. Assessment of a Framework for Monitoring Tiger Population Trends in India. A Report to the IUNC: World Conservation Union and India's Project Tiger. Available from: <http://projecttiger.nic.in/whtsnew/Assessment%20of%20a%20framework%20for%20monitoring%20tiger%20population%20trends%20in%20India-%202006.pdf> (Accessed March 2012)

Ministry of Environment and Forests: Government of India. Tiger~Meetr: Measuring the Management Effectiveness of Tiger Reserves in India (2011). Available from: <http://www.projecttiger.nic.in/whtsnew/meetr_tiger_2011.pdf> (Accessed March 2012)

National Tiger Conservation Authority. Project Tiger. Available from: <http://projecttiger.nic.in/index.asp> (Accessed March 2012)

As a parting farewell gift, I am blessing you dedicated bloggers with one last conservation success story. At the turn of the century the estimated tiger population in India was 40,000 individuals. That number declined into the mere 200’s in the 1970’s, a devastating low population size putting the tiger in the danger of extinction. 

Increased human and livestock population in the country of India has led to an extreme pressure and reliance on forest resources, ultimately causing degradation and fragmentation of wildlife habitats. Tigers are killed for sport, skins and body parts. The demands from other countries for those lucrative profits pose a threat to wildlife. It was estimated that 10 grams of tiger bones received a price of $25 US in 1999. The quantum of trade in wildlife products is valued at 20 billion dollars in the global market, estimation just next to the quantum of narcotics. More than one third of the trade in wildlife is illegal. In 1973 launched the Project Tiger Scheme, aiming at tiger conservation by way of ‘tiger reserves’. Nine tiger reserves, covering an area of about 13,000sq.km, were initially implemented in several different states during the first couple years of the project. Currently, the number of tiger reserves has increased to an amazing 39 areas, covering more than 37,000sq.km, 1.14% of the total area of the country! 

The tiger population has since increased in numbers to more than 4000 tigers. This rebound through effective protection and conservation measures has resurrected the genetic diversity in some of the most unique and endangered ecosystems.  The approach that Project Tiger took to bring back the tigers from the brink of extinction were to eliminate all forms of human disturbances and exploitation in designated locations, to repair damages done by man on the habitats, as well as to research the habitat and carefully monitor the changes in the flora and fauna. Tigers are a keystone species representing the well being of the ecosystem, by conserving tigers the entire ecosystem was conserved. It would be very sad to lose the biggest and mores feared predator in the world, so I am very grateful that India has managed to bring back this majestic creature from near extinction.

WORD COUNT: 371

Perishing Parrots

BirdLife International (2012) Species factsheet: Amazona oratrix. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org (accessed March 2012)

http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=1679

Programme for Belize (2012). Wings Project. Last updated 2012. Downloaded from

http://www.pfbelize.org/conservation/ (accessed March 2012)

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology: All About Birds (2012). Parrots in Pine Trees: A Belize Conservation Story. Downloaded from: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/roundrobin/2011/01/07/parrots-in-pine-trees-a-belize-conservation-story/ (accessed March 2012)

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology: All About Birds (2012). Preserving Wild Parrot Populations. Downloaded from: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=967&ac=ac (accessed March 2012)

Today I’d like to give everyone another uplifting story, one to fuel the faith we have in conservation. As we all know poaching goes against everything conservation organizations strive for; they decrease biodiversity, reduce key habitats while abusing protected areas and they make the remaining individuals of that species extremely sensitive to future human interactions. Due to the black market demand for exotic species the poachers capture animals that are typically extremely close to extinction. Currently there is an endangered species of bird called the Yellow-headed Parrot (known as Amazon Parrots to locals) that lives in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. They are cavity nesters in pine savannah forests and are known for their bright beautiful plumage and their ability to mimic human speech. A large impact on the reasons why these birds were declining was due to habitat loss combined with these birds becoming intensely pursued for the illegal pet trade in the mid 1970’s; these events resulted in an approximate 7,000 individuals (in 1994) left in the wild.

It was a warm summer night that a ranger on patrol in Belize came across 2 baby Yellow-headed Parrots. They were only a couple of weeks old and completely innocent on the forest floor. The ranger suspected that fleeing poachers earlier that night dropped the chicks by accident. The rangers fed and sheltered the baby chicks for weeks until they were strong enough to sleep and forage outside, then eventually survive completely in the wild, several months later. The actions the rangers took to care for the chicks were inspiring and rare.

 

Since then, Programme for Belize, a nonprofit organization, has pursued a recovery project for the Yellow-headed Parrot. However, this has been a hard task because even protected areas remain vulnerable to poachers and a decreased habitat loss due to poachers cutting down the trees to get to the parrots habitats is a major issue for future birds looking for cavity homes to breed. Proactive tactics to reduce these barriers has been to increase security and raise awareness to local communities stressing the importance of the parrot and its habitat.

WORD COUNT: 351