News Excerpt:
Cambodia plans to import four tigers from India this year under an agreement signed with India to revive the population of big cats.
About the news:
- Cambodia and India signed a memorandum of understanding in 2022 on restoring tigers and their habitats.
- One male and three female tigers could arrive in Cambodia at the end of 2024.
- The cats will be sent to a 90-hectare (222-acre) forest inside the Tatai Wildlife Sanctuary in western Koh Kong province to acclimatise before being released into the wild.
- Tatai Wildlife Sanctuary is in the western provinces of Koh Kong and Pursat, Cambodia.
- If the project goes smoothly, twelve more tigers will be imported over the next five years.
Current status of Cambodia’s tiger population:
- The last sighting of a tiger in the Southeast Asian kingdom was from a camera trap in 2007, and the cats were declared "functionally extinct" in Cambodia in 2016.
- Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam have all lost their native populations, while Myanmar is thought to have just 23 tigers left in the wild.
- Cambodia's dry forests were once home to scores of Indochinese tigers, but intensive poaching of both tigers and their prey has devastated their numbers.
Status of tigers in India:
- According to the "Status of Tigers 2022" report released last year to mark the completion of 50 years of "Project Tiger", the Govt said that there are at least 3167 tigers in India.
- With a 50% increase in the last four years, Madhya Pradesh has the maximum number (785) of tigers in the country, followed by Karnataka (563), Uttarakhand (560), and Maharashtra (444).
- Currently, India is home to approximately 75% of the world’s tiger population.
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Why Tiger Conservation Matters:
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Conclusion:
Cambodia's initiative to import tigers from India underscores the critical need for international cooperation in conserving endangered species. The project reflects a broader commitment to restoring habitats and populations, emphasizing the importance of protecting these majestic animals for the ecological balance and biodiversity of our planet.
