Supriya Sahu, additional chief secretary, Tamil Nadu forest ministry, credits local eyes, dedicated foresters and government support for the success of the tiger conservation projects in Tamil Nadu and India.

Deep in the jungles of Mudumalai, the field director and his team are keeping a vigil. T23, a wounded tiger, has killed four humans and several livestock leading to fear and panic in the surrounding villages. The forest team is on a mission to capture and translocate T23. Udyan and Srinivasan — kumki elephants, or trained captive jumbos, from Theppakadu elephant camp — are also on duty to assist the rescue team of forest guards, foresters, veterinary doctors, and anti-poaching watchers.

After a three-week vigil, the team successfully captured and translocated the elusive tiger. A committed team of anti-poaching watchers — Meena Kalan, Bomman, Madhan, Murugan and Kethan — gets a pat on the back. Their deep knowledge of the terrain and tracking skills made the mission a success.

The success of tiger conservation in Tamil Nadu can be attributed to good science, cutting edge technologies, local wisdom, and unwavering government support. The state first set up four anti-poaching camps in 1997-98, with 25 tribal boys assigned to keep a vigil on poachers and forest offenders. These camps proved extremely efficient in protection and conservation mainly due to fearless watchers, who knew animal behaviour instinctively, had the skill and courage to move inside core forest areas to protect and defend wildlife. Thanks to the knowledge passed on from ancestors, these watchers knew forest like the back of their hands.
Encouraged by success, the anti-poaching camps were further set up in all five tiger reserves in Tamil Nadu. Currently, the state has 238 anti-poaching camps having over 900 anti-poaching watchers, nearly 300 of them from local tribal communities. The role of these frontline defenders towards tiger conservation cannot be undermined.

Tamil Nadu accounts for nearly 10% of the tiger population of India. According to the All India Tiger Estimation Exercise (AITE) conducted in 2018, the minimum population of tigers was 264. It has risen to 300 in 2022. A total of five tiger reserves, spanning an area of 6,195 sq km, nearly 29% of the state forest cover, provide a contiguous and protected habitat for the tigers.

Srivilliputhur-Megamalai Tiger Reserve, the fifth of the state, was created in August 2021, with a total area of 1,016.57 sq km.

Tamil Nadu has implemented several scientific wildlife management practices leading to more than 350% increase in its tiger population — from 76 in 2006 to 300 in 2022. The Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve received the prestigious TX2 international award in 2019 for doubling its tiger population to 86 within a decade. The reserve also bagged the national award for registering highest increment in management effectiveness evaluation (MEE) in 2019. Such achievements stand testimony to the robust protection and conservation efforts of the Tamil Nadu government in the field of tiger conservation.

The Tamil Nadu Forest Department (TNFD) has initiated several key tiger conservation efforts in the last two decades. The notable among them are daily patrolling of tiger habitats by frontline staff using the M-stripe app, implementation of habitat improvement works, early detection of forest fires, and extensive removal of invasive species. These practices resulted in increasing prey base, improving habitat quality, and bringing down poaching incidences.

The TNFD has recently embarked on a strategy of rewilding abandoned or injured wild animals. In a first of its kind exercise, the officers at Anamalai Tiger Reserve are closely working with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in rewilding a tiger cub found abandoned in a tea estate in September 2022. These pioneering efforts will serve as lessons for other parts of the country.

Political will and a proactive bureaucracy too played a key role in heralding a new era of wildlife conservation in Tamil Nadu. The state government recently notified Agasthiyamalai Elephant Reserve covering the districts of Tirunelveli, Kanniyakumari and Tenkasi. The notification of Cauvery South Wildlife Sanctuary is another significant milestone in India’s wildlife conservation, as it would seamlessly integrate biodiversity rich areas beyond the state borders.

India’s first ever Dugong Conservation Reserve to protect highly endangered Dugongs in the Gulf of Mannar-Palk Bay area has also been taken up. The state has also notified a special sanctuary for the slender loris, apart from launching the first conservation project for Nilgiri tahr, the state animal of Tamil Nadu.

A wildlife crime control bureau has been set up with more than 100 dedicated staff to exclusively focus on prevention of wildlife crime and trafficking of wild animals. We are also the first state to notify Tamil Nadu Power Fences (Registration and Regulation) Rules, 2023 — a path breaking enactment to prevent loss of precious wildlife especially elephants and tigers due to electrocution. These initiatives are set to create a multiplier effect which will directly and indirectly help in tiger conservation apart from helping in conservation of overall biodiversity.

Implementation of the first ever elephant death audit framework has opened a new chapter in bringing accountability and transparency in reporting elephant deaths and its causes. This would pave the way for better understanding of animal mortality. A similar framework is likely to be adopted for recording tiger deaths too.

While a lot has been said about the policy and field initiatives which have helped to conserve tigers, elephants, and other species, it is important to recognize that these initiatives require state funding. While Project Tiger can do well to further enhance funding, state governments like Tamil Nadu have been making state funds available to support and enhance conservation measures in a significant way.

While Tamil Nadu’s success story serves as a good example of participation of local communities in tiger conservation, it is important to recognize that the task to protect tigers and their habitats is far from over. The anti-poaching watchers will continue to be the backbone of our effort to preserve and protect our tigers.

Parallelly, sustained field efforts, including strengthening of the existing anti-poaching measures, capacity building, intelligence gathering, use of modern technology and inter departmental cooperation and coordination are vital to ensure the continued growth and long-term survival of tigers in Tamil Nadu and beyond. Only through collaborative action and unwavering commitment can we secure a future where tigers thrive in their natural habitats and forests, mangroves and marine areas continue to flourish.