India 'failing to protect tigers'

At least 100 tigers have been lost this year

By Mike Wooldridge in Delhi

The London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has alleged that lack of political support at the top of the Indian Government is fuelling the decline in the world's tiger population.

The group harshly criticised India's record

The agency's tiger campaigner, Peter Richardson, told a news conference in Delhi that at least 100 tigers were reported to have been lost in India this year.

He claimed this was due to the failure to set up a specialised unit to fight wildlife crime.

India's tiger population is believed to be down to around 3,500, largely because of poaching and the reduction of their natural habitat.

Recently, a young tigress was even killed in a zoological park.

Delhi backed a recommendation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) that a specialised unit should be set up in India to combat wildlife crime and tackle the illegal trade networks more effectively.

But this hasn't happened yet and the EIA's Peter Richardson claimed that the continuing tiger deaths were a direct consequence.

If Atal Behari Vajpayee failed to act, Mr Richardson suggested, the world would remember him as the prime minister who stood by and watched as the tiger died.

The director of the National Tiger Conservation Project said resources were a major problem but India was trying to save the tiger.