Wildlife
investigators slam Indian PM over tiger poaching
NEW
DELHI, Nov 22 (AFP) - A London-based wildlife lobby
group said Wednesday it would target Indian Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in a campaign to
highlight the plight of India's dwindling wild tiger
population.
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) said
the campaign, to be launched Thursday in New Delhi,
would hold Vajpayee "personally
responsible" for the deaths of hundreds of
endangered tigers.
"In the wake of evidence of an escalating trade
in tiger parts and derivatives, India's forest
officers have remained powerless due to a complete
lack of political support from the prime minister's
office," an EIA statement said. "It's a
desperate situation," EIA's tiger campaigner
Peter Richardson told AFP.
The government estimates there are about 3,750
tigers remaing in India. Conservationists believe
there were about 40,000 at the beginning of the last
century. Richardson said Indian pledges to counter
tiger poaching were falling foul of
"bickering" and a lack of coordination
between various ministries.
He cited a commitment India made at the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)
meeting in Nairobi in March to set up a special
anti-poaching enforcement agency.
The move was blocked by the Finance Ministry.
"We want the prime minister to intervene,"
Richardson said. "We just feel he's ignoring
the issue. The buck stops with him."
Environment and Forests Minister T.R. Baalu said
Wednesday that 26 tigers had been killed by poachers
so far this year, while 11 died from other causes.
EIA claims 100 tigers have died. In September,
India's Supreme Court called for strict government
measures to protect the tiger population, following
a spate of tiger deaths in captivity. In one
incident, a 13-month-old Royal Bengal tigress was
killed and skinned in a state-run zoo.
"Even captive animals are falling victim to the
tiger parts trade," Richardson said.
As well as the skins, tiger bones are highly prized
for their supposed medicinal value, especially in
Chinese communities.
(information
received through e-mail from Nirmal GhoshI)
