The Momma Clan

Tiger’s Day celebrates the importance of wildlife. In a time and age when wildlife is getting scarce due to the effects of industrialization and commercialization, the significance of the day becomes way more relevant. As per data, tigers are a conservation dependent species. Major threats to tigers include poaching. Poaching refers to the act of illegally invading forests with the sole intention of the deterioration of the flora and fauna of the wild. Sadly enough, there is an illegal international demand for tiger parts and products. The depletion of tiger prey is something which is quite directly linked with the destruction of the woods. 

With the depletion of root-level resources, it is quite difficult for carnivorous animals to prey on herbivorous animals. Herbivorous animals feed on grass and basic food resources out there in the wild. Proper balance of resources in the wild contributes to the proper function of a food chain. Tigers are on the highest tier of the wild food chain. Also, the ever-increasing demand for forested lands greatly impacts the habitat loss in the wild. In order to gauge the success of conservation efforts, the National Tiger Conservation Authority, in collaboration with the State Forest departments, the Wildlife Institute of India conducts a National Assessment for the status of tigers. 

The first assessment based on this scientific methodology was done in 2006 and subsequently in 2010, 2014, and 2018. In 2006, the tiger population was estimated at 1,411. This was much lower than the earlier official estimate. The conflict of wild vs wired thus becomes more prominent. Wild represents the natural, whereas wired represents artificiality, and a constrained life. Constraining wild animals in zoos, reserve parks and sanctuaries is ethically locking up nature in a cage. Apart from the good interest in mind, as in the intention to protect the animals from poaching, this constrained life detrimentally affects the animals. They are forced to drastically adapt to a new environment. 

This sudden shift brings a cutdown on their lifestyle. With the additional intervention of human beings, since the places are tourist attractions, the animals end up getting treated like commercial products, kept for entertaining the visitors. The commercialization of natural species is solely synonymous with the Occidental perspective towards the Oriental. The Occidental refers to the pre-established Western ideas. On the contrary, the Oriental refers to the East, the land completely taken advantage of because of its riches. 

The central problem binding the wild and the wired is exactly the same problem. The desire to capitalize and industrialize every single piece of land leads to the wild getting unsafe gradually. While it offers the solution on one hand, on the other it brings further harm. While it promises to take care of the species which is getting endangered very slowly, it makes the animals feel anxious because of human intervention and disturbance. The 2010 assessment by the National Tiger Conservation Authorities stated that there was a decline in tiger-occupied areas. 

This decline in tiger occupied spaces was supposedly recorded in places outside of tiger reserves, where the habitat has already been damaged beyond comprehension. The 2014 assessment finally bore fruit. An effective thirty percent increase was effectively observed. By 2014, India had seventy percent of the global tiger population at 2226. Thus, it can be said that humans are at the center of all the problems. In comparison to the wild, wired seems to be a way better option, much like a blessing in disguise, with a few minor inconveniences. The bigger issue might end up getting resolved easily. 

-Riddhima Sen