Wildlife series: Part 4 – How tigers and villagers co-exist in forests, as part of Project Tiger

Full Episode description

Project Tiger was launched in 1973 amidst the gloomy news that the tiger numbers had plummeted to a measly 1400 from a high of 40,000 in 1900. An Indian officer called Kailash Sankhala, also called the Tiger Man of India, pushed the case for a special protection plan for tigers. Thus was born Project Tiger.

This was also around the same time when M.K.Ranjitsinh was helping  the Indian government draft one of the tightest wildlife protection acts – The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. One of the highlights of this act was that most forms of wildlife were not allowed to be hunted, except under very special circumstances. As part of this act, M.K.Ranjitsinh (a former prince of a royal family in Gujarat) brought many important provisions, based on his observations of how wildlife and villagers co-exist in and around the forests. One of the most important provision related to how tigers need to be protected in the event of their consuming the livestock of a villager.

Listen to a conversation on how tigers hunt and how villagers co-exist with them in forests, and how the Wildlife Act protects them both. Smyan Shetty, a fourth grader from Mumbai, explores these aspects.

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