Illustration tiré de l'article de Vidya Venkat "Rising tiger numbers : Expert warn again premature celebration", publié dans "The Hindu" du mercredi 13 avril 2016.
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/rising-tiger-numbers-experts-warn-against-premature-celebration/article8467582.ece
Le nombre de tigres sauvages répertoriés dans le Monde a officiellement augmenté entre 2010 (3200 individus) et 2014 (3890) , pour la première fois depuis un siècle. The Times of India, ce jour. World's wild tiger count rise for first time a century. De mon point de vue, les chiffres avancés, s'ils expriment souvent une tendance réelle (travail plus précis des recenseurs, hausse ou baisse effective des populations) sont de simples ordres de grandeur, parfois très approximatifs. De plus, la publication de ces éléments (et non "informations") la veille du Sommet de New - Dehli ne doit évidemment rien au hasard (voir "Chiffres politiques et réalités" mis en ligne le 17 janvier 2015).
http://europe-tigre.over-blog.com/2015/01/chiffres-politiques-et-realites.html
Face aux chiffres suivants officiellement avancés: Bangladesh, 106; Bhutan, 103; Cambodia, 0; China, more than 7; India, 2,226; Indonesia, 371; Laos, 2; Malaysia, 250; Myanmar, no data available; Nepal, 198; Russia, 433; Thailand, 189; Vietnam, fewer than 5. The experts said the Myanmar government count of 85 tigers in 2010 was not included because the data was considered out of date. Voici mon commentaire : les données concernant le Bangladesh, le Bhoutan et le Népal me semblent correctes, tout comme pour la péninsule indochinoise, où l'animal n'existe plus qu'à l'état résiduel. La situation est probablement identique au Myanmar. Thaïlande (entre 200 et 250 individus), Malaisie (300 individus) et Indonésie (600) ont des données sous estimées, modérément pour les premières, largement pour la troisième. La Malaisie comptait plus de 500 individus en 2010. Comme le Bangladesh (qui a lui aussi connu un fort recul de ses populations de tigres du delta du Gange), elle compte engager une vigoureuse politique de sauvegarde pour sauver son emblème national. Elle sous - estime sa population tigréenne dans un souci de mobilisation la plus rapide et la plus forte possible. A l'inverse, la Thaïlande, et plus encore l'Indonésie, sous - estiment les populations de tigres présents sur leurs territoires respectifs, qui n'ont pas baissé depuis 2010, jouant sur l'objectif de doublement du nombre pour 2022... Il s'agit donc, dans leurs cas, de sous - estimations de confort. L'Inde compte au moins 2400 à 2500 tigres (début 2015), la Russie 560 (début 2016), la Chine près de 40 (début 2016). La Corée du Nord, non répertoriée ici, abrite probablement plus d'une vingtaine de tigres dans sa région montagneuse du Nord - Est. Et ce soir, dans le Workshop sur les plans de réintroduction, les experts réunis à New Dehli feront le point sur la concrétisation du plan cambodgien en 2018 et celle du plan Kazakh en 2020, mais passeront sous silence celle de Chine du Sud qui interviendra dans la même période... Des représentants officiels du Kirghistan et du Kazakhstan participeront à la Conférence dans son ensemble.
Par ailleurs, à propos de "Still, this is the first time tiger counts are increasing since 1900, when there were more than 100,000 tigers in the wild.", tout est dans le "more than"... puisqu'il y avait au moins 40 000 tigres en Chine du Sud, le même nombre (minimum minimorum) en Inde, et plusieurs dizaines de milliers en Asie centrale où il est officiellement éteint depuis la deuxième moitié du siècle dernier...
Sur le long terme, si l'on ne prend en compte que les capacités d'accueil des milieux, les possibilités d'expansion des populations les plus fortes se situent en Malaisie, Thaïlande, et, plus encore, au Myanmar.
The world's count of wild tigers roaming forests from Russia to Vietnam has gone up for the first time in more than a century, with 3,890 counted by conservation groups and national governments in the latest global census, wildlife conservation groups said on Monday.
The tally marks a turnaround from the last worldwide estimate in 2010, when the number of tigers in the wild hit an all-time low of about 3,200, according to the World Wildlife Fund and the Global Tiger Forum.
India alone holds more than half of the world's tigers, with 2,226 tigers roaming reserves across the country, from the southern tip of Kerala state to the eastern swamps in West Bengal, according to its last count in 2014.
But while experts said the news was cause for celebration, they stopped short of saying the number of tigers itself was actually rising. In other words, it may just be that experts are aware of more tigers, thanks to better survey methods and more areas being surveyed.
Still, this is the first time tiger counts are increasing since 1900, when there were more than 100,000 tigers in the wild.
"More important than the absolute numbers is the trend, and we're seeing the trend going in the right direction," said Ginette Hemley, senior vice-president of wildlife conservation at WWF.
The global census, compiled from national tiger surveys as well as the International Union for Conservation of Nature, was released a day before ministers from 13 countries meet for three days in New Delhi.
The countries teamed up with conservation groups after the disappointing count in 2010, and pledged to double wild tiger numbers by 2022. Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio joined the effort.
"Tigers are some of the most vital and beloved animals on Earth," DiCaprio said in a statement. "I am so proud that our collective efforts have begun to make progress toward our goal, but there is still so much to be done."
Not all nations are yet seeing progress. While Russia, India, Bhutan and Nepal all counted more tigers in their latest surveys, Southeast Asian countries have struggled. They are also behind the others in conservation measures, and do not yet conduct a tiger census on their own.
"When you have high-level political commitments, it can make all the difference," Hemley said. "When you have well protected habitat and you control the poaching, tigers will recover. That's a pretty simple formula. We know it works."
Cambodia is looking at reintroducing tigers after recently declaring them functionally extinct within its borders, meaning there are no longer any breeding tigers in the wild. Indonesia has also seen a rapid decline, thanks to having the world's highest rate of forest destruction to meet growing demand for producing palm oil as well as pulp and paper.
Tigers are considered endangered species, under constant threat from habitat loss and poachers seeking their body parts for sale on the black market. They are also seeing their habitats rapidly shrinking as countries develop.
The global tiger count is based on data from 2014. Here is the tally broken down by country:
Bangladesh, 106; Bhutan, 103; Cambodia, 0; China, more than 7; India, 2,226; Indonesia, 371; Laos, 2; Malaysia, 250; Myanmar, no data available; Nepal, 198; Russia, 433; Thailand, 189; Vietnam, fewer than 5.
The experts said the Myanmar government count of 85 tigers in 2010 was not included because the data was considered out of date.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Worlds-wild-tiger-count-rise-for-first-time-in-a-century/articleshow/51773245.cms
Le Premier Ministre indien Narendra Modi inaugurera demain la Conférence Internationale de New Dehli. Voir : Times of India, ce jour. PM to inaugurate international meet on Tiger conservation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will tomorrow inaugurate the third Asia ministerial conference on tiger conservation where tiger range countries will discuss key issues including anti-poaching strategies.
"More than 700 tiger experts, scientists, managers, donors and other stakeholders are gathering to discuss issues related to tiger conservation," an official statement said.
Ministers and government officials from all tiger range countries namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, India, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russian Federation, Thailand, Vietnam, besides Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan, having ranges of snow leopard will participate in the conference.
While several tiger range countries like India, Nepal, Russia and Bhutan have registered an increase in tiger population, the status of tiger remains "endangered" and tiger population has decimated to non-viable level in some range countries, which is a cause for concern.
"We have allotted Rs 380 crore to the Project Tiger in the current fiscal year, which is an all-time high and indicates that the Government of India is committed to the conservation of our national animal 'Tiger'," said environment minister Prakash Javadekar.
He said that due to the concerted efforts of the government and other stakeholders, more than 70% of the global wild tiger population is in India.
He also said that saving the Tiger means much more than ecological balance and "it is helping in combating adverse effects of climate change as well".
Additional Director General (Project Tiger) BS Bonal said that the delegates will discuss all important issues like landscape conservation and habitat management, tiger reintroduction, monitoring protocols, anti-poaching strategy, modern tools and technology for monitoring amongst others.
"The countries will report the status and progress of their global or national tiger recovery programme and will come out with a futuristic declaration for tiger conservation," he said.
It can be mentioned here that during the Global Tiger Summit at St Petersburg held in 2010, tiger range countries committed to double the tiger number by 2022 and adopted the global or national tiger recovery programme.
This conference is being co-organized by the Environment ministry, National Tiger Conservation Authority, Global Tiger Forum, Global Tiger Initiative Council, Wildlife Institute of India, WWF and Wildlife Conservation Trust.
