Photos & Text: Ajay Suri
NOW, this here is an irony; a happy one! India doesn’t actually need to celebrate the World Wildlife Day – as it’s done worldwide on March 3 every year.
That’s because India’s wildlife has started bursting at the seams and its forest reserves, national parks and sanctuaries are teeming with wonderful animals and birds. In India, wildlife is being celebrated every day of the year.
But the situation wasn’t always like this. Hardly two decades ago, the tiger reached the brink of extinction. Only 1,400 or so were left in the wild, and they seemed destined to go the way of the dodo. With India’s apex predator, as also its most charismatic animal, stared at a certain doom, a pall of gloom had fallen over the wildlife landscape of India.
Save the Tiger
To save India’s wildlife, it was vital to save the tiger as it lays on top of the food chain in a forest and, therefore, the very health of wilderness depended on the big cat’s survival. Accordingly, the National Tiger Conservation Authority of India (NTCA), formerly known as Project Tiger, was given new powers with a mandate – to save the tiger at any cost.
As things stand today, the population of wild tigers in India has reached an impressive 3,682 (as per the census carried out in 2022). It won’t be wrong to say that India’s economy and the health of its wildlife are following a similar trajectory!
In fact, the direct linkage between booming economy and wildlife can be seen at all the towns and small cities situated around our prominent national parks, be it Corbett Park in Uttarakhand, Ranthambore in Rajasthan, Kanha and Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh, Kaziranga in Assam, Gir in Gujarat, Periyar in Kerala, Tadoba in Maharashtra or Nagarhole in Karnataka.
Wildlife tourism
The surge in wildlife tourism has changed the economic dynamics of these towns and cities. From a tea-seller at a roadside eatery to Gypsy drivers and owners and staff of hotels and resorts which have mushroomed around India’s wildlife destinations, everybody is reaping the rewards of increased wildlife tourism. The property prices in these areas have sky-rocketed during the last decade, benefitting thousands of land owners. All this has become possible because we have managed to save our wild treasures. And we celebrate our wildlife every day!
