Since the prime minister was told about the urgency of the tiger crisis, "a number of measures have been announced," says Wright, "such as the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, Inter-state Coordination Committees, and the National Tiger Conservation Authority. The prime minister has also written letters to the chief ministers to fill the vacant frontline forests posts.
"The NTCA," she continues, "is in the process of creating Tiger Protection Forces in selected tiger reserves with the help of ex-servicemen, re-writing the agenda for buffer and fringe areas, improving staff development and capacity building, pushing for relocation of villages in crucial tiger habitats and the creation of Park Development Funds and Committees."
"However," she adds, "most of these initiatives still remain only on paper. The big question is: Will the state government cooperate in a serious and effective tiger conservation initiative?"
The prime minister must summon chief ministers and follow up on the action taken, says Thapar. He suggests there are bureaucratic adjustments to be made, and that a National Wildlife Service be instituted, without ruffling the feathers of the Indian Forest Service.
He also feels the time has come for private-public partnerships to save the tiger.
Photograph: Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: 'It is the end of the road for the Indian tiger'
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