Tigers Need Heart

The tiger—the world’s biggest cat—needs our heart and largesse for its protection. While tigers are doing well in tiger reserves, human communities and livestock are often at odds with the animal; poachers kill tigers routinely, posing a knotty enforcement problem. A big dose of heart, apart from regular funding and centrally-sponsored schemes, is exactly what Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended to the tiger at a high-level meeting of tiger range countries at the recent third Asia Ministerial meeting for tiger conservation, held in New Delhi.

Stressing that he had nearly doubled allocations for the National Tiger Conservation Authority this year, Modi did not stop at the financial or technological. Instead, he went on to talk about the intangible, incommensurate aspects of conserving tigers. Referring to the ministers, experts and other officials from tiger range countries who had come for the meet, he said they were all gathered together because of tigers. He stressed that putting a price tag on nature and the tiger was not wise, as these represented unquantifiable values. Protecting tigers is crucial for human well-being, he said.