The Pench Jungle Lodges Federation has challenged the fresh comprehensive ecotourism guidelines issued by National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), a statutory body under the ministry of enviro

Although the State has lost five tigers since June this year, the Madhya Pradesh Government is optimistic about the State getting back its prestigious ‘tiger state’ status after the next census of

In the third incident of poaching reported since last November, a partly decomposed and skinned carcass of a tiger was found in the forest area of Umaria approximately 25 kilometers away from Bandh

At a time when crores are being spent on tiger conservation, forests would be cut down at Mahan in Central India following provisional clearance for coal mining by the Government.

The Supreme Court’s interim order banning tourism in core areas of tiger reserves has taken its toll on Pachmarhi, a picturesque hill station with its major attractions within the core area of Satp

The recent ban by the Supreme Court on tourism in core areas of tiger reserves in India raises some fundamental questions:

1. Is tourism, however intense, the real culprit behind the killings of tigers and their seemingly low breeding capacity?
2. If after four decades of implementing the Wildlife (Protection) Act, and efforts by Project Tiger and the National Tiger Conservation Authority, tigers are near extinction today, can banning reserve tourism reverse the situation?
3. Can people be denied the right to visit national parks to watch the most admired animal in the world?

Madhya Pradesh, once famous as the “Tiger State,” lost 453 animals over the last decade. And how many culprits did the government bring to book? Just two. Recently accessed documents reveal only two cases of poaching reached their logical conclusion of conviction during this period, as of March 2012.

Sample the facts: according to the conservation programme ‘Project Tiger', the population of big cats in Madhya Pradesh in 2001-02 stood at 710. However, the 2011 census revealed there were only 257 tigers left in its six reserves — Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Panna, Bori-Satpura, Sanjay Dubri and Pench.

In a bid to ensure greater accountability, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has decided to conduct an annual tiger census from 2012 in all 39 tiger reserves of the country.

To foster public awareness about the need to protect the country's diminishing tiger population, former MP Kamal Morarka is presenting a weeklong solo exhibition of pictures of the magnificent big