Karnataka - Madikeri   

`Conservation of tigers implies protection of wildlife'

Staff Correspondent

`Saving an endangered species will help save an entire forest'

Madikeri: Tiger conservation has a larger connotation of saving wildlife in its entirety, including the environment, Praveen Bhargav, Managing Trustee of Wildlife First, has said.

Mr. Bhargav told The Hindu here on Saturday that saving an endangered species such as tiger would help save forests, insects, and birds, and even vegetation.

What tigers needed were a prey-based habitat and protection from poaching. There could be between 50 to 60 tigers in the Nagarahole National Park (Rajiv Gandhi National Park), Mr. Bhargav said.

He welcomed the idea of entrusting conservation of wildlife to the retired Armed Forces personnel, as proposed by the Union Government recently.

Mr. Bhargav expressed concern over wildlife trading, estimated to be around $ six billion in the global market annually, was second only to narcotics and gun-running rackets.

Mr. Bhargav denied that the Wildlife First was against the process of development.

What it advocated was the introduction of a planned and systematic development of wildlife and environmental conservation, he said.

It was against mining in Kudremukh. But the company could be shifted to any other safer place, he said. Wildlife expert K.M. Chinnappa allayed fears that people would be displaced in the event of the declaration of the three sanctuaries as national park.

The UNESCO had selected the western ghats as one of the hotspots of bio-diversity in the world. All that the State Government needed was to re-notify the areas as national park, which were now wildife sanctuaries, Mr. Bhargav said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Madikeri faces threat of landslips
`Conservation of tigers implies protection of wildlife'

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu