A scandal surrounding the death of a tiger in one of India's most popular national parks has laid bare the tensions between the country's wildlife authorities and the tourist industry. The animal, a tigress suckling three six-month-old cubs, whose survival is now also at risk, was killed last month in the Bandhavgarh tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh. Now an official report has confirmed the widespread suspicion that the animal was hit by a vehicle carrying park officers. The accident happened in the early hours of the morning; the vehicle was in the park without authority and it appears that it was being used for an illegal private game drive.
The park authorities originally tried to pin the blame on a tourist jeep. Only a few weeks earlier an attempt was made to ban tourists altogether from India's tiger sanctuaries. One leading wildlife tourism operator put his frustration succinctly: "This incident simply underscores an important point - the Forest Department does not want tourism because tourism imposes an inconvenient monitoring of its activities. The department long ago lost all goodwill among the people who should be its natural supporters."
The exposure of such hostility between two of the groups most crucial in the effort to save wild tigers from extinction could not come at a more sensitive time. The story so far: out of the blue, the Indian National Tiger Conservation Authority announced that tigers were being "loved to death" and that "tiger tourism" would therefore be phased out. After international uproar, the idea was scrapped. Back to square
one for tigers and tourists. Read the full report here.
Source: Peter Hughes, Telegraph, U.K
