Tigers ©S Baker
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When the Indian National Tiger Conservation Authority attempted to phase out “tiger tourism” and ban visitors from India’s tiger reserves, the international backlash proved to be too strong and the idea was abandoned. Now, two years later, tourists are proving to be one of the most valuable tools in monitoring and studying India’s precious few tigers left in the wild.
Tourists, with the help of a new website, Tiger Nation are using social media to publicly monitor individual tigers.
So far Tiger Nation is watching 50 tigers in two reserves: Ranthambhore, in Rajasthan, and Bandhavgarh, in Madhya Pradesh.
The website’s software can immediately identify a tiger from its stripes so that contributors’ photographs and observations of particular animals can be added to a database. The information is then available to park field directors, border and intelligence agencies, NGOs and scientific organizations to help keep regular tabs on tigers and their movements.
The site will be funded mainly by subscription. Basic entry is free but access to the full site costs £14.99 a year.
Read more at the Telegraph.