PK Sen: A Large-hearted Gentleman

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A personal tribute by Prerna Singh Bindra

It was early 1998. I was a rookie reporter passionate about wildlife when I first met with PK Sen, a 1967 batch Bihar cadre Indian Forest Service officer, who was then the Director of Project Tiger. He was in Mumbai for a function that I gate-crashed begging for an interview. PK—as he was affectionally known—had a packed schedule and a plane to catch. “Dukhi mat ho. Don’t be dejected,” he admonished,” … Read More

India Adopts a New Refined Protocol to Monitor Tigers

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Will make India world leader in big cat monitoring, say scientists.

In a move welcomed widely by the conservation and scientific community, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has adopted new refined protocols for intensive annual monitoring of tiger source populations under ‘Phase IV’ of National Tiger Estimation. The new protocol is expected to lead to more robust estimates of population density, change in numbers over time and other crucial parameters such as survival and recruitment rates in key wild … Read More

Project Tiger Merger With Other Schemes Dropped

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Union environment minister, Jayanthi Natarajan revealed to the members of the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) that the planning commission’s proposal to merge three centrally sponsored schemes — Project Tiger, Project Elephant and Integrated Development under Wildlife Habitat (IDWH) into one has been dropped. When the move was proposed, all nine members of the NBWL had opposed the move. NBWL members thanked the Union Minister and the Planning Commission chairman, for showing concern towards the implications … Read More

Project Tiger May Be Merged With Other Conservation Schemes

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Project Tiger, India’s first wildlife protection program, may be merged along with other conservation schemes. The Planning Commission has asked the environment ministry to merge Project Tiger along with Project Elephant and Integrated Development under Wildlife Habitat (IDWH). The move has been opposed by all nine members of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) who have termed it “retrograde”. They have written a strongly worded letter to the Planning Commission chairman, Montek Singh Ahluwalia and a copy has been sent … Read More

Review of the Tiger Task Force report, 2005 — Joining the Dots but Losing the Cats?

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After the Sariska catastrophe, and the resultant public outcry, the Prime Minister appointed a Tiger Task Force (TTF) to review the status of the species. The TTF submitted a 206-page report titled Joining the Dots in August 2005. Dr Ullas Karanth reviews the TTF report.

Maintaining ‘inviolate’ areas for wild tiger populations

The TTF recognizes that viable breeding populations of wild tigers need sufficient habitats free of incompatible human uses. It projects an area of 37,000 sq km, within boundaries … Read More