Download - Tiger-project for High School Students

By: Bipin Chandra Tripathi 1

TigersAn Endangered Species


Tigers are the largest true carnivore in the world.

Tigers live only in Asia. Unlike most cats, tigers

like water and are very good swimmers.

Tigers can jump up to 33 feet in one bound.

Tigers in the wild live to be about 15 years old. Tigers in the zoo live to be about 21 years old.

Tigers in the zoo eat ground up horse meat including the bones, hide and insides.

Tiger cubs are born one to three to a litter and they don’t open their eyes for a few days after they are born.

The largest tiger is the Siberian tiger. The smallest tiger is the Sumatran tiger.

Tigers Are An Important Part of Our World


Babies Tiger cubs are born one to three to a litter

and they are born blind. Their eyes will open after a few days. They will drink their mother’s milk for five or six months.


Asia Tigers are only

found in Asia. Scientists believe they originated in northern climates and migrated southward. They are not as comfortable in the hotter regions.


Largest Carnivore Tigers are the

largest true carnivore in the world. They can only eat meat. They will eat most of an animal that they kill in order to get all the vitamins and nutrients they need.


Good Swimmers Unlike most cats,

tigers like the water and are very good swimmers. They can easily swim one to two miles.


Good Jumpers Tigers can jump up to 33 feet in one

bound. That is longer than two minivans.


Biggest And Smallest The Siberian tiger

is the largest tiger in the world. The male can grow to be about 600 pounds. The Sumatran tiger is the smallest tiger, weighing in at 268 pounds.


Zoo Diets In the zoo, tigers

eat a daily diet of ground up horse meat that includes the bones, hide and insides. This gives them all the nutrients their bodies need.


Short Lives Tigers in the

wild only live to be about 15 years old. Tigers in the zoo live a little longer to maybe 21 years old.


Tigers Dark orange to white

in color with black or dark brown stripes.

Slender bodies with powerful muscles.

Small, round ears. Retractable claws. Very good eyesight,

especially at night. They live in jungles,

forests and grasslands of Asia.

5 tigers website gives good information on how to help save tigers.There are several national parks and reserves set up to help the tigers survive.


Project TigerA Step to Save Tigers


Project Tiger: Project Tiger, launched in 1973-74, is one of our most successful conservation ventures in the recent times. The project aims at tiger conservation in specially constituted 'tiger reserves', which are representative of various bio-geographical regions falling within our country. It strives to maintain a viable tiger population in the natural environment.

An estimate of the tiger population in India, at the turn of the century, placed the figure at 40,000. Subsequently, the first ever all India tiger census was conducted in 1972 which revealed the existence of only 1827 tigers. Various pressures in the later part of the last century led to the progressive decline of wilderness, resulting in the disturbance of viable tiger habitats. At the IUCN General Assembly meeting in Delhi, in 1969, serious concern was voiced about the threat to several species of wildlife and the shrinkage of wilderness in the country. In 1970, a national ban on tiger hunting was imposed and in 1972 the Wildlife Protection Act came into force. A 'Task Force' was then set up to formulate a project for tiger conservation with an ecological approach.

Past of Project Tiger


The project was launched in 1973, and various tiger reserves were created in the country on a 'core-buffer' strategy. The core areas were freed from all sorts of human activities and the buffer areas were subjected to 'conservation oriented land use'. Management plans were drawn up for each tiger reserve, based on the principles outlined below:

1. Elimination of all forms of human exploitation and biotic disturbance from the core area and rationalization of activities in the buffer zone.2. Restricting the habitat management only to repair the damages done to the eco-system by human and other interferences, so as to facilitate recovery of the eco-system to its natural state.3. Monitoring the faunal and floral changes over time and carrying out research about wildlife.

Past of Project Tiger continues..


Initially, 9 tiger reserves were established in different States during the period 1973-74, by pooling the resources available with the Central and State Governments. These nine reserves covered an area of about 13,017sq.km-viz Manas (Assam), Palamau (Bihar), Similipal (Orissa), Corbett (U.P.), Kanha (M.P.), Melghat (Maharashtra), Bandipur (Karnataka), Ranthambhore (Rajasthan) and Sunderbans (West Bengal).

Initially, 9 tiger reserves were established in different States during the period 1973-74, by pooling the resources available with the Central and State Governments. These nine reserves covered an area of about 13,017sq.km-viz Manas (Assam), Palamau (Bihar), Similipal (Orissa), Corbett (U.P.), Kanha (M.P.), Melghat (Maharashtra), Bandipur (Karnataka), Ranthambhore (Rajasthan) and Sunderbans (West Bengal).

The project started as a 'Central Sector Scheme' with the full assistance of Central Government till 1979-80: later, it become a 'centrally Sponsored Scheme' from 1980-81, with equal sharing of expenditure between the center and the states.

The W.W.F. has given an assistance of US $ 1 million in the form of equipments, expertise and literature. The various States are also bearing the loss on account of giving up the forestry operations in the reserves.



The main achievements of this project are excellent recovery of the habitat and consequent increase in the tiger population in the reserve areas, from a mere 268 in 9 reserves in 1972 to 1576 in 27 reserves in 2003. Tiger, being at the apex of the food chain, can be considered as the indicator of the stability of the eco-system. For a viable tiger population, a habitat should possess a good prey base, which in turn will depend on an undisturbed forest vegetation. Thus, 'Project Tiger', is basically the conservation of the entire eco-system and apart from tigers, all other wild animals also have increased in number in the project areas. In the subsequent 'Five Year Plans', the main thrust was to enlarge the core and buffer zones in certain reserves, intensification of protection and ecodevelopment in the buffer zones of existing tiger reserves, creation of additional tiger reserves and strengthening of the research activities.

The management strategy was to identify the limiting factors and to mitigate them by suitable management. The damages done to the habitat were to be rectified, so as to facilitate the recovery of eco-system to the maximum possible extent. Management practices which tend to push the wildlife populations beyond the carrying capacity of the habitat were carefully avoided. A minimum core of 300 sq. km. with a sizeable buffer was recommended for each project area. The overall administration of the project is monitored by a 'Steering Committee'. The execution of the project is done by the respective State Governments. A 'Field Director' is appointed for each reserve, who is assisted by the field and technical personnel. The Chief Wildlife warden in various States are responsible for the field execution. At the Centre, a full-fledged 'Director' of the project coordinates the work for the country.



Wireless communication system and outstation patrol camps have been developed within the tiger reserves, due to which poaching has declined considerably. Fire protection is effectively done by suitable preventive and control measure Voluntory Village relocation has been done in many reserves, especially from the core, area. In Kanha, Bandipur and Ranthambhore, all the villages have been shifted from the core, and after relocation, the villagers have been provided with alternate agricultural lands and other community benefits. This has resulted in the improvement of the carrying capacity of the habitat. Live stock grazing has been controlled to a great extent in the tiger reserves. Various compensatory developmental works have improved the water regime and the ground and field level vegetations, thereby increasing the animal density. Research data pertaining to vegetational changes are also available from many reserves. In general, the 'restorative management' and 'intense protection' under 'Project Tiger' have saved many of our eco-typical areas from destruction. The area around the buffer is now contemplated as a zone of multiple use, to bring compatibility between the reserves and the neighbouring communities.

Present of Project Tiger


a) Use of Information and Communication technology in Wildlife Protection and Crime Risk Management in Tiger reserves.

Wildlife protection and crime risk management in the present scenario requires a widely distributed Information Network, using the state-of-art Information and Communication Technology. This becomes all the more important to ensure the desired level of protection in field formations to safeguard the impressive gains of a focused project like 'Project Tiger'. The important elements in Wildlife protection and control are: Mapping/plotting the relative spatial abundance of wild animals, identification of risk factors, proximity to risk factors, sensitivity categorization, crime mapping and immediate action for apprehending the offenders based on effective networking and communication. Space technology has shown the interconnectivity of natural and anthropogenic phenomena occurring anywhere on earth. Several Tiger Reserves are being linked with the Project Tiger Directorate in the GIS domain for Wildlife Crime Risk Management.

b) GIS based digitized database and MIS development/networking in Tiger Reserves: With the advanced IT tools, a wide gamut of software solutions are available to improve

wildlife related information capture process, its analysis and informed decision making. Geographic Information System is the most relevant of these technologies for natural resource management projects, including wildlife management. The mandate of project tiger is to conserve tigers in a holistic manner. The GIS based database at PTHQ is being linked with the microcomputers in the Tiger Reserves, so that a dynamic linkage for rapid information flow is established using Arc IMS facility.

Future of Project Tiger


c) Tiger Habitat & Population Evaluation System for the Indian Sub Continent A 'Tiger Atlas of India' and a 'Tiger Habitat & Population Evaluation System for the

country is being developed using the state- of - the - art technology.This involves:1. Mapping , data acquisition and GIS modeling 2. Field data collection and validation 3. Data Maintenance , Dissemination and UseThe following potential tiger habitats in the country are being covered:1. Shivalik-Terai Conservation Unit(Uttaranchal, UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Nepal)2. Nort east Conservation Unit3. Sunderbans Conservation Unit4. Central Indian Conservation Unit5. Eastern Ghat Conservation Unit6. Western Ghat Conservation Unit

Satellite data is being used and classified into vegetation and land use maps on a 1:50,000 scale, with digitized data relating to contour , villages, roads , drainage , administrative boundaries and soil . The spatial layers would be attached with attribute data , viz. human population , livestock population , meteorological data, agricultural information and field data pertaining to wildlife, habitat for evolving regional protocols to monitor tiger and its habitat.

Future of Project Tiger continues..


The dynamics of forest management and wildlife conservation have been distorted due to need for income, lack of awareness, lack of landuse policy and population pressure. Since the traditional use systems of people are neither static nor benign, these should not be overlooked.

A regional development approach in landscapes having Tiger Reserves is of utmost importance in our country. It should be viewed as a mosaic of different landuse patterns, viz, tiger conservation / preservation, forestry, sustainable use and development, besides socio-economic growth.

Tiger habitats exist in environments of thousands of indigenous communities which depend on them. Therefore we cannot view these protected areas in isolation from the surrounding socio-economic realities and developmental priorities of the Govt. This calls for a cross-sectoral and cross-disciplinary approach.

Tigers now need a "preservationist" approach. Regional planning is important around Tiger Reserves to foster ecological connectivity between protected areas through restorative inputs with integrated landuse planning. The management plan of a Tiger Reserve, therefore, needs to be integrated in larger regional management plans.

Vision for The Future


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Submitted to:Ms. Soni Kapoor

Submitted By:Amit Pant

Download - Tiger-project for High School Students

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