Dr Manoj Sumati R. Borkar
As a country with exceptional wildlife endowments, we offer habitat to the three big cats viz., the tiger, lion and leopard. Of course all these cats have their own aesthetic and conservation values, but the tiger steals the show with its large size, royal demeanor, mesmerizing eyes, striped pelt and stealth in predation. That the tiger occupies a place of prominence in multiple domains of Indian Art, History, Archaeology and Mythology best showcases the influence it has wielded on Indian psyche since times immemorial.
Seals and tablets discovered at the Indus valley excavation sites in India and Pakistan have regularly shown Tiger motifs as objects of worship, suggesting that this cat symbolized strength and prowess to dominate. Among the tribal communities of our country; the Gonds of central India, Murias of Chhattisgarh, Bharias, Baigas, Baghanis and Korkus of Madhya Pradesh, Bhils of Rajasthan , Warlis of coastal Maharashtra, Kollong and Ullatar tribes of Kerala, have all sanctified the tiger and worship it. In Goa as well, there are temples dedicated to the Tiger deity called Vagrodev worshipped by the forest dwelling communities of Sanguem and Sattari.
Over the last few decades there is a paradigm shift in tourism options offered by India in consideration of the tipping point reached by conventional mass tourism. The travel and tourism sector has consciously partnered with the conservation brigade to promote green tourism and reduce environmental costs. International and domestic travelers also look for rustic destinations away from urban comforts and conveniences, where they can experience unspoilt wilderness and peace. Wildlife tourism is one among the many ecologically benign, soft tourism choices where the visitors experience the thrill of seeing the species in wild. The options are countless and cater to specific interests; but going by the arrival statistics and revenue generated through wildlife tourism, the Indian Tiger bags the gold!
In a tiger country everyone attempts to cash in on the tiger frenzy. In MP for instance, the tiger conservation landscape itself is the prime capital for the booming tiger tourism, generating several crores of rupees annually only through gate-fees collection. The tangential sectors too have their economy supported by tiger tourism. It is another story that the affluent hotel lobby through their nexus with local land mafia have even bought over tribal land in the vicinity of the reserves by forgery and falsehood, extracting several lakhs of litres of ground water to cater to the demands of affluent urban tourists, steadily parching the landscape.
From among the 18 Indian states with tiger presence, Madhya Pradesh is India’s top tiger state with a total of 4773.628 km2 of critical tiger habitat within its 6 tiger reserves. MP has also been fortunate to have uncompromised political backing for existing institutional mechanism towards sustainable tiger management and conservation, a well publicized participatory wildlife tourism involving and prioritizing the local stakeholders. Until recently, tiger tourism here had been indeed a win-win situation for the tiger and the state.
But in the recent years as the winter and summer vacations begin, hordes of tourists arrive into these tiger reserves from near and far. It’s a heterogeneous mix; not all familiar with the ‘code of the forests’ and visitor’s model conduct during a tiger tour.
And then what follows is a cacophony of impatient children, shrieks of excited youngsters, loud unsolicited commentaries of adults; all jam-packed in a fleet of open jeeps that proceeds along the designated tiger trails in a desperate bid to spot the most celebrated of the Indian cats.
The enterprise is largely governed by the lure of revenue rather than the mandate of conservation.
Therefore the Visitor’s Carrying Capacity is grossly ignored. The real torment begins when the tiger is finally sighted in a particular beat and its whereabouts conveyed to the convoy of anxious tourists.
In absence of effective visitor’s zoning, the carnivore’s private space is often violated by the vehicle-mounted excited crowds, that jostle to get a glimpse of the striped cat. Amidst the high vehicular density that almost blocks the tiger movements to allow longer and closer sightings, camera flashes dazzle and confuse the cat. Approximately for 7 months of active tiger tourism season in India from November to May, which also includes the mating season; the big cat is put through this ordeal on a daily basis. The National Tiger Conservation Authority’s advisory on restricting number of tourist vehicles to 40 per day has been completely ignored. This chronic exposure to unruly visitor crowds, several vehicles trailing them at close distance obstructing their free movements and violating their privacy is sure to stress the tiger.
As a physiological response to these hostile externalities, their adrenal gland releases large titres of Stress Hormones. Such endocrine excesses can disrupt the reproductive success of this critically endangered cat, pushing it closer to the brink of extinction. It is alarming that in two independent research studies by scientists of Hyderabad based CSIR Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species (CSIR-LaCONES); first at Sariska and recently at Kanha and Bandhavgarh, Glucocorticoids (stress hormones) in tiger scats were found to be significantly high and directly proportional to the number of tourist
vehicles !
These findings have significant implications; first that the tiger population of our popular reserves is stressed due to over tourism, that is visitor-centric rather than being conservation oriented. Given this overcrowding and intrusion by insensitive tourists, India’s most celebrated carnivore has lost its privacy and libido; as evident from mating lethargy. And if corrective action does not follow with urgency for lure of sheer revenue, very soon tiger tourism will be unviable and yield diminishing returns. And after all the tiger is not just a tourism capital, it is India’s living heritage too!
