New Delhi: TRAFFIC has been disconcerted by the media articles floating around for the last three days regarding poaching of Tigers in India in 2015 and especially for the attribution that is given to TRAFFIC for releasing these Tiger poaching figures in public domain and sounding an early alarm bell.
TRAFFIC would like to clarify that it has been grossly misrepresented in the articles and no such statement was ever made to any media personnel. TRAFFIC presumes that these figures were picked up from tigernet.nic.in (official database on tiger mortality in India) where out of 41 listings, only 10 details have been elucidated. The rest have been left empty or with a note that details are awaited, pending official confirmation on cause of death from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). Without such confirmation, the ‘analysis’ presented by the media reports can only be construed as wrong information or rather misinterpretation of government data.
Tigernet was launched in 2010 by NTCA with support from TRAFFIC with the prime objective to track each and every Tiger death in the country and make this data available to various agencies for requisite action. There was a legitimate concern in India for quite some time about the veracity of Tiger mortalities especially in relation to wildlife crime in the larger context. Information that has emanated was often found contradictory and obfuscating. To tackle this problem, TRAFFIC had joined hands with the NTCA to develop and maintain an online database on Tiger mortalities and crime in the country.
Concomitantly it is also a concerted partnership between TRAFFIC and the NTCA to record Tiger related crimes in the broader context in the country since the Tiger is an indicator species. Officials from state forest departments are required to log on to the website to provide and obtain significant data related to Tiger mortality and crime including seizures. The empty columns and ‘details awaited’ sections do not necessarily indicate poaching whilst awaiting official confirmation and it is wrong to infer as much.
TRAFFIC is very apprehensive about growth of such kind of irresponsible journalism and is sure that accredited and upstanding news agencies are also equally concerned about it. TRAFFIC truly appreciates the support it has received in the past from the media agencies for highlighting Tiger and other wildlife related crimes but also sincerely requests all to confirm with the concerned organizations before attributing any information/data directly to them or any other stakeholders involved.
For more information, please contact Dr Shekhar Kumar Niraj at 9868178927 or email at sniraj@wwfindia.net or call Dilpreet Chhabra at 9899000472 or email her at dchhabra@wwfindia.net
TRAFFIC would like to clarify that it has been grossly misrepresented in the articles and no such statement was ever made to any media personnel. TRAFFIC presumes that these figures were picked up from tigernet.nic.in (official database on tiger mortality in India) where out of 41 listings, only 10 details have been elucidated. The rest have been left empty or with a note that details are awaited, pending official confirmation on cause of death from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). Without such confirmation, the ‘analysis’ presented by the media reports can only be construed as wrong information or rather misinterpretation of government data.
Tigernet was launched in 2010 by NTCA with support from TRAFFIC with the prime objective to track each and every Tiger death in the country and make this data available to various agencies for requisite action. There was a legitimate concern in India for quite some time about the veracity of Tiger mortalities especially in relation to wildlife crime in the larger context. Information that has emanated was often found contradictory and obfuscating. To tackle this problem, TRAFFIC had joined hands with the NTCA to develop and maintain an online database on Tiger mortalities and crime in the country.
Concomitantly it is also a concerted partnership between TRAFFIC and the NTCA to record Tiger related crimes in the broader context in the country since the Tiger is an indicator species. Officials from state forest departments are required to log on to the website to provide and obtain significant data related to Tiger mortality and crime including seizures. The empty columns and ‘details awaited’ sections do not necessarily indicate poaching whilst awaiting official confirmation and it is wrong to infer as much.
TRAFFIC is very apprehensive about growth of such kind of irresponsible journalism and is sure that accredited and upstanding news agencies are also equally concerned about it. TRAFFIC truly appreciates the support it has received in the past from the media agencies for highlighting Tiger and other wildlife related crimes but also sincerely requests all to confirm with the concerned organizations before attributing any information/data directly to them or any other stakeholders involved.
For more information, please contact Dr Shekhar Kumar Niraj at 9868178927 or email at sniraj@wwfindia.net or call Dilpreet Chhabra at 9899000472 or email her at dchhabra@wwfindia.net
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