Write a short note on Project Tiger.

(a) Why Tiger Project: Tiger is one of the main wildlife species in the faunal web. The tiger population has decreased from 55,000 at the turn of the century to 1,827 in 1973.
(b) Threats to tiger population: Threats to tiger population are numerous, such as poaching for trade, shrinking habitat. depletion of prey base species, growing human population, trade of tiger skins and use of their bones in traditional medicines.
(c) Why poaching and illegal trading in India and Nepal: India and Nepal provide habitat to about two-thirds of surviving tiger population in the world, so these countries face the problem of poaching and illegal trading.
(d) Implementation of Project Tiger: It was launched in 1973. The tiger population was as given below in different years from 1985 to 1993: 1985 – 4,002,1989 – 4,334,1993 – 3,600. 27 Liger reserves have been setup in an area of 37, 761 sq km to save them from extinction as well as a means of preserving biotypes of sizeable magnitude. The main tiger, reserves are as given below:
(i) Corbett National park in Uttarakhand.
(ii) Sunderbans National park in West Bengal.
(iii) Bandhavgarh National park in Madhya Pradesh.
(iv) Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan.
(v) Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam.
(vi) Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala.