Tiger conservation in Bhutan: A legacy from past, a pride of present and a hope for future.

Tiger conservation in Bhutan: A legacy from past, a pride of present and a hope for future.

The turn of the 20^th century saw an estimated number of wild tigers to an encouraging 100,000 that comprised of eight sub-species. While five sub-species survived, including- Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), Siberian tiger (P.t. altaica), Indo-China tiger (P. t. corbetti), South China tiger (P.t. amoyensis) and Sumatran tiger (P.t. sumatrae); the other three including - Bali tiger (P.t. balica), Caspian tiger (P.t. virgata) and Javan tiger
(P.t.sobdaica) faced extinction by 1980s. These magnificent big cats majestically inhabited a range across Asia to the Russian Far East. But habitat fragmentation, poaching and illegal trade in tiger parts/trophies have relentlessly pushed tigers into smaller and smaller enclaves, in smaller numbers, and to the verge of extinction today. We now have only about 3200 wild tigers struggling to survive and facing continued threats.  

Bhutan is a conservation paradise with both strong political commitment and people’s support/participation in conservation practices. The country’s policy places a strong focus and gives top priority to nature and wildlife conservation. These are translated at all levels of government decision making. As a result of such visionary and wise conservation policies, the majestic wild tigers roam with authority in the forests all over the country.  The habitat ranges from an elevation as low as 100m in the southern foothills to as high as over 4300m in the snow covered regions in the northern part of the country. This makes Bhutan, “the hidden tiger land on the planet” and serves as the potential “tiger breeding nucleus” for the region. 

The success stories of Tigers in Bhutan are the legacy from our visionary leaders and fore-fathers, who conserved and protected since times immemorial. A strong religious and cultural ethos based on Buddhism for centuries has provided a safe refuge for these extraordinary richness of wild flora and fauna. Tigers have played a vital role in many of the south Asian culture. In religion, we find tigers as a sacred animal of power, represented in rituals like Lungta (Wind-horse). Tiger is found in art in many different forms. One popular case is the Sogpo Tagkhrid, or the Mongol leading the tiger. Furthermore, there are tiger headed Buddhas such as Tagdongma (tiger headed) and for Bhutan, the most sacred place is Paro Taktshang (tiger’s nest). In the Bhutanese culture and myths, Guru Rinpoche, the legendary Buddhist master is supposed have taken the identity or manifestation of the Dorji Drolod riding tigress in Bhutan to reach Taktshang that tuned to a seat for spreading Buddhism in the country. The tiger under Guru Drolod is said to be a manifestation of his consort according to one story and of the local spirit according to another. It is also one of the four protector animals of our state religion-Drukpa karjue, the others being; Dragon, Garuda and Snow Lion. The other three, which are mythological, are believed to have been extinct. Therefore, the Tiger is religiously close to Bhutanese hearts and we gear up all our efforts to persist its existence.

These past legacies have been transferred to our present generations. We take pride in harbouring this majestic animal in our land. We enjoy optimum political support from the great leadership of our leaders and spiritual and compassionate spirit from the citizens. This promises the ray of hope for future of tigers against several challenges facing survival of this animal. The protection of nature and the environment is one of the pillars to promote Gross National Happiness, a guiding development philosophy of the country. The conservation of big cats especially tigers, snow leopards and leopards that require large home ranges, is becoming increasingly difficult with an increasing human population, developmental activities, and increasing grazing pressures amongst others. While Bhutan still boasts of enough space and promising habitat to support a viable population of breeding tigers in the years to come, the challenges facing tiger conservation are not limited. 

Today in Bhutan, the fast paced developmental activities taking place in close proximity of pristine habitats are emerging threats for tigers. Apart from the habitat fragmentation, the disturbances from humans and noise pollution in and around due to increase in population are some of the likely added threats for the tigers. While strengths for conservation of tigers in Bhutan include people’s support, of late, the increased intensity of livestock predation by tigers has become an issue of concern because of the possible retaliatory killing of tigers by the affected owners of the livestock whose livelihood depends entirely on rearing livestock. In order to mitigate the livestock predation conflicts, the government has initiated the livestock compensation scheme since 2002. To ensure sustained compensation scheme, a new scheme of community managed livestock insurance scheme has been started.

Internationally, tiger is listed in Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix Ι (all commercial trade is prohibited) and categorized as endangered in the IUCN Red Data List (2001). In Bhutan, Tiger conservation is a priority and it enjoys the highest legal status being  listed in the schedule Ι of the Forest and Nature Conservation Act of Bhutan, 1995 which provides protection status at par with  the Appendix Ι of the CITES.

The number of tigers in general decreased at an alarming rate during our times despite inheriting huge numbers from the past in the last century, but Bhutan has the success story of maintaining the positive trend of tiger population. Entering the 21^st century with rich biodiversity legacy, Bhutanese take pride in maintaining it in perpetuity. Despite the conservation challenges faced today in the world, under the visionary leadership of our hereditary monarchs, dynamic leaders, worthy citizens  and dedicated conservationists, Bhutan is still a safer place in the 21^st century for tigers in particular  and biodiversity in general. Today we Bhutanese take pride in being able to conserve the king of the jungle “the majestic tiger” which is highly endangered, making Bhutan the heart of tiger range countries and a safer home for tigers.