More and more tigers – but not everyone is happy

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi drew applause when he spoke of the successes achieved in the southern Indian city of Mysuru on Sunday. Officials and staff from several of the country’s largest tiger reserves were in attendance.

India is a country where protecting nature is part of our culture. This is why we have had so many unique successes in nature conservation,” Modi said at the celebration of the project’s 50th anniversary.

Modi has also launched a new project, the International Big Cat Alliance, which will focus on the conservation of the tiger, lion, cheetah, snow leopard, puma, jaguar and cheetah.

When India began Project Tiger in 1973, only about 1,800 specimens remained in the country. The program focused on establishing reserves for tigers without human presence so as not to disturb the animals. Today, India’s tiger population — the largest in the world — numbers more than 3,000 individuals, according to new figures.

However, many indigenous groups have criticized the model for forcing communities that have existed in the forests for thousands of years to relocate.

– We have lost all rights to visit our land, our temples and even collect honey from the forest. How can we continue to live like this? asks JA Shivu, who belongs to the Jenu Kuruba ethnic group from South India.

Only one percent of India’s indigenous people have their land rights secured, despite a 2006 law that would protect the indigenous people of the country’s primeval forests.

– By tradition, we always put wildlife before humans, says Vidya Athreya of the Wildlife Conservation Society, which studies the interaction between big cats and humans.

He believes the only way to protect wildlife is to connect with communities.