Pilibhit Tiger Reserve Gets Global Award For Doubling Its Big Cat Population, In Just 4 Years
In some great news for the conservation of India's national animal and the environment, the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) and the Uttar Pradesh Forest department have bagged the first-ever international award, TX2, for doubling the number of tigers there.
TX2 is the global award which was set up in 2010 in St. Petersburg, Russia by international organizations working for tiger conservation like WWF, UNDP, IUCN, Global Tiger Fund (GTF), CATS and The Lion's Share.
PTR is the first tiger reserve in India to receive the TX2 Award.
Goa met in only 4 years than the 10 years target set
What is even more impressive in the achievement of PTR is that this goal was met in just four years from 2014, instead of the 10 years target, when it had 25 tigers which went up to 65 in 2018.
The award was virtually presented to the principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife) of the state, Sunil Pandey, by UNDP's (United Nations Development Program) head of ecosystems and biodiversity, Midori Paxton.
Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar hailed the award given to the Tiger Reserver.
SP Yadav, ADG, Project Tiger said that the award once again showcases India¡¯s commitment in preservation and conservation efforts for the big cats.
Naveen Khandelwal, deputy director of PTR, had applied for this award in September this year after the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) released this year's the state-wise figures of the tiger estimation which was based on the census conducted in 2018 in all tiger reserves across the country.
Great progression
Khandelwal said no other tiger reserve among all the 13 tiger range countries could succeed in doubling the big cat population in a span of 10 years.
He said as per the NTCA's tiger estimation report, the PTR had 57 resident and eight transit tigers in 2018. This figure did not include the tiger cubs below the age of one year. The growth of 40 tigers in a short span of four years was recognized for the TX2 award.
Team effort to meet target
He attributed the success to rigorous patrolling with constant use of Monitoring System for Tigers-Intensive Protection and Ecological Status (M-STrIPE), stringent action against wildlife criminals and poachers and forest and grassland management. The efforts of the forest staff, local stakeholders and wildlife enthusiasts in tiger conservation paid off, the official said.
Uttar Pradesh is home to two more tiger reserves, in Lakhimpur and Bijnor. There is also a proposal for a fourth tiger reserve in Chitrakoot.
