Fierce Roars over Tiger Tourism

By Lucy Grewcock - 28 June 2010

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From Sher Kahn to Tigger, do we love Tigers too much? The Indian Government recently suggested that tigers are being ‘loved to death’ by tourists and that the phasing out of tourism is necessary in order to save the big cats from imminent extinction. The decision has ignited fierce rows and attracted divided opinions between conservationists.

Surveys carried out by The Wildlife Institute of India, revealed that tiger populations fell by up to 60% between 2002 and 2008; over 700 cats disappeared in six years. 21 tigers are already thought to have died in 2010 and it is estimated that around 1400 remain in the wild today.

The need for protection has been formally recognised in India since 1970, when hunting was banned. The Wildlife Protection Act followed in 1972 and lead to the establishment of ‘Project Tiger’. Renamed ‘the National Tiger Conservation Authority’ in 2006, the aim is to create ‘safe havens’, in which tigers can live undisturbed. According to the authority, tiger populations have increased significantly since its launch and it has “...put the tiger on an assured course of recovery”.

But tourism is unregulated in India’s reserves and it is estimated that hundreds of thousands visit each year. Hotels have been blamed for blocking pathways between tiger territories and, to ensure that tourists get what they're paying for, luxury lodges have been built in core areas to maximise the chances of a sighting. In India’s oldest National Park, named after hunter turned conservationist Jim Corbett, their most recent guesthouses are described as being in ‘excellent tiger territory’.

Alongside infrastructure, modern practices in wildlife tracking are also thought to be a major threat. Where reserves use radio telemetry systems, visitors can be quickly alerted to a sighting. Travelling on elephant back, in jeeps or 20 seater vehicles, they are likely to disrupt grasslands on their cross-country journeys, causing wider ecological damage. One tourism website claims that, in Ranthambore National Park, tigers are ‘…oblivious of jeep loads of tourists’.

The right decision?

No-one is blind to the fact that many other factors threaten the species. Historically, Tiger hunting was a prestigious sport, one practiced by royals from India to England. In China, from grinding the tail as a cancer cure, to rubbing tiger brain on your body to treat laziness, tiger has been used in traditional medicine for centuries and the demand is still high. Today, hunting is illegal and international trade in tiger parts is banned but markets throughout China continue to sell without shame. With a whole cat fetching around $50,000, the Environmental Investigation Agency says that tiger trade is thriving throughout the world, including in the USA and Europe.

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