Save tigers, make states accountable.

Valmik Thapar is a tiger expert...speaking to the PIONEER newspaper.

Your comment on the current tiger crisis...

This is the worst crisis I have ever seen in my life after 30 years of working with tigers. Yes, we had the 1992-93 tiger crisis, but we haven't learnt any lessons. Of all the recommendations made for the past 15 years - there must have been 200 - none has been implemented.

What's your wishlist for the tiger? Forces must be deployed immediately in the 10 to 15 distressed tiger reserves before it is too late. The Rajasthan Chief Minster, Mrs Vasundhara Raje, deployed a 300-strong force at Ranthambhore within 24-hours. We require such deployment for other reserves, it is the only deterrent to poachers. Then, we can look at the long-term measures of protecting habitats, engaging local people as protectors etc. Also the states must be made accountable for its tigers.

Do you see a future for wild tigers in India? If I am honest, at this moment I cannot see the horizon. There is no light at the end of the tunnel, no future. I am being a pessimist but I have never felt the way I do now. The context has changed from the time since Project Tiger was born. Politics has changed, good decision making is absent.

Are other wild animals, not so much in the limelight, in a similar plight as the tiger? Yes. Leopards are killed for their skins and bones. There was a recent elephant poaching case in Rajaji. The otter is being slaughtered for its skin. The list is endless.