Sachinism Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 Armed commandos are to be deployed in the jungles of southern India to deter poachers from capturing and killing endangered tigers. The 54-strong Special Tiger Protection Force will patrol the two main tiger reserves of Bandipur and Nagarhole national parks on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu state border, the Karnataka government in Bangalore said on Wednesday. The squad, which includes forest rangers, has undergone a three-month course in jungle survival techniques as well as weapons training. Armed commandos are to be deployed in the jungles of southern India to deter poachers from capturing and killing endangered tigers. The 54-strong Special Tiger Protection Force will patrol the two main tiger reserves of Bandipur and Nagarhole national parks on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu state border, the Karnataka government in Bangalore said on Wednesday. The squad, which includes forest rangers, has undergone a three-month course in jungle survival techniques as well as weapons training. Advertisement: Story continues below "We plan to induct an additional 54 personnel into the force for deploying in the other three tiger reserves across the state," BK Singh, the state's principal chief conservator of forests, told reporters. "They will also undergo physical training, unarmed combat, training in using weapons, field engineering [and] map reading," he added, hailing the initiative as the first of its kind in India. India is home to half of the world's rapidly dwindling wild tiger population but has been struggling to halt the big cat's decline in the face of poachers, international smuggling networks and loss of habitat. From an estimated 40,000 animals in 1947, when India gained independence from British colonial rule, numbers are down to about 1706 - about half that in 2001 but slightly up on the 1411 in 2006. Karnataka is India's most tiger-dense state, with about 300 of the predators prowling its six major reserves in 2010. The state forest department says that about 50 tigers have died in Karnataka since 2006, half of them killed by poachers, with the carcasses sold for use in traditional Chinese medicine. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has set aside 500 million rupees ($890,000) to raise, arm and deploy similar squadrons in 13 tiger reserves across India. Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/armed-commandos-to-protect-indias-tigers-20120105-1pmj1.html#ixzz1ia6fCi00
chainsmoker1985 Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 Good move. The number of deployed men is also good, 54, is not too high number and not too low as well. Tigers need to be saved and there are many mofos who will do anything to kill tigers for their dirty business
zen Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 good to know that we are taking steps to protect the tigers .... but i hope they do their job properly and not get mixed up in this business too From an estimated 40,000 animals in 1947, when India gained independence from British colonial rule, numbers are down to about 1706 - about half that in 2001 but slightly up on the 1411 in 2006.
achilles Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 Great move. NDTV provided some advanced equipments to the forest dept officials at Sariska.
cowboysfan Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 I once spent 3 days in bandipur and we had day long hikes into the jungle accompanied by the rangers but we never saw a tiger,we saw its markings and pug marks but they rarely come out in the open in day time.
hari504504 Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 why commandoes ? .. why not forest rangers alone ?
f.b.m Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 Are there tiger farms in India? [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfraP4-xucA]Endangered Animals - YouTube[/ame]
Mariyam Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 I once spent 3 days in bandipur and we had day long hikes into the jungle accompanied by the rangers but we never saw a tiger' date='we saw its markings and pug marks but they rarely come out in the open in day time.[/quote'] Same here. :(( Had been to the Ranthambore wild life sanctuary in Dec 10. Spent a good 5 hours in the place, but didn't sight any tiger. These pug marks are the closest we came to a tiger. :(( Random pic to show off my exemplary photographic skills. Worse still, my parents went there just after 3 weeks and the sighted the tigers 3 times in the first two hours of the safari. :(( :(( *have reduced the pic size to make it easy to upload
Ram Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 54 Indians are going to become very rich very soon.
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