印度國家老虎保育委員會已經「原則上」同意在全國設立4個老虎保育區，並提案另外增設4個保育區，以保護此類瀕臨滅絕的大型貓科動物。
環境和森林部長拉梅什(Jairam Ramesh)，上上週在議會上議院以書面答詢證實成立4個保育區及其提案。
此次批准的是曾在2008年9月遭到擱置的4個老虎保育區：
1.位在卡納塔克州的Biligiri Ranganatha斯瓦米寺保育區，此區至少保護17隻老虎。
2.在北方州的Pilibhit保育區，是位於印度和尼泊爾邊境林區，估計有36隻老虎。
3.位在中央州柚木森林的Ratapani保育區，此處估計約有22隻老虎。
4.在奧里薩州最濃密森林的Sunabeda保育區，大約有32隻老虎。
此外，還有3個州接受建議，已提案4個老虎保育區：馬哈拉施特拉州的 Bor和Nagzira - Navegaon地區、北方州的Suhelwa地區、泰米爾納德州的Satyamangalam地區。
由於保育區內外的盜獵行為依然猖獗，建立保育區並不能保證印度老虎的安全。
上個月在Sariska保育區發現一隻被毒死的老虎，拉賈斯坦州林業部長Ram Lal Jaat說。
拉梅什部長說，根據2008年進行的最新全國評估，印度現在估計有1411頭野生老虎。
在18世紀進入19世紀期間，印度老虎數量估計約為4萬5千頭。而在1972年進行首次全印度老虎族群普查，卻僅發現1827隻老虎，由於盜獵以及棲地消失，老虎仍然持續減少。
印度在1973年建立第一個老虎保育區，即比哈爾州的 Palamau老虎保護區，由政府資助的老虎計劃自此展開。該保育區在2003年還有42隻老虎，而根據2009年的普查，現在只剩6隻老虎。
在Palamau保育區成立之前，印度以商業方式管理這些森林。整個林地每年遭火燒毀。不僅盜獵猖獗，並且開放放牧。
迄今這些問題仍然存在。村民們在整個保育區放牧將近10萬頭牛，但傳統上他們僅被允許在緩衝地帶放牧。
在已被劃入保育區附近的村莊，其總人口數超過11萬人，而其中有3萬9千人居住在保育區的邊界。
平均而言，5.3%保育區每年受到火災影響而破壞天然森林和阻礙再生，而有許多次火災是人類放火的。
現在在印度17個州裡共有38個老虎保育區，每個保育區都是依據國家老虎保育委員會所謂「核心--緩衝」策略創設。此策略的管理計劃是，在核心區消除一切形式的人類開發和生物阻擾行為，而在緩衝地帶進行合理經營。
India's National Tiger Conservation Authority has granted approval "in-principle" for four tiger reserves across the country and has requested proposals for four additional reserves to protect the endangered big cats.
Jairam Ramesh, minister for environment and forests, confirmed the four reserves and the request for proposals in a written reply to a question in the upper house of Parliament last week.
The new level of approval was given to four tiger reserves set aside in September 2008:
‧Biligiri Ranganatha Swamy Temple Sanctuary in Karnataka state, which shelters at least 17 tigers
‧Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, a forested area on the India-Nepal border with an estimated 36 tigers
‧Ratapani in the teak forests of Madhya Pradesh state, which contains an estimated 22 tigers
‧Sunabeda, in the densest forest in Orissa state, with about 32 tigers.
In addition, three states have been advised to send proposals for declaring four more areas as tiger reserves: the areas of Bor and Nagzira-Navegaon in Maharashtra state, the Suhelwa area in Uttar Pradesh, and Satyamangalam in the state of Tamil Nadu.
The establishment of tiger reserves does not guarantee protection for India's tigers as poaching the endangered animals is still rampant both within and outside reserves.
A tiger that was found dead in Sariska Tiger Reserve last month had been poisoned, said Rajasthan Forest Minister Ram Lal Jaat.
Minister Ramesh said India now has an estimated population of 1,411 wild tigers, according to the latest nationwide assessment, conducted in 2008.
The tiger population in India at the turn of the 19th century was estimated at 45,000 animals. The first ever all-India tiger census, conducted in 1972, found only 1,827 tigers, and they are still disappearing due to poaching and habitat encroachment.
In 1973, the government-sponsored Project Tiger was launched with the creation of Palamau Tiger Reserve in Bihar state, India's first tiger reserve. The reserve, which had 42 tigers in 2003, has just six left now, according to the 2009 tiger census.
Before the creation of Palamau Tiger Reserve, the management of these forests was commercial. The entire forest area was ravaged by fires every year. Poaching was rampant and the area was open to grazing.
Today some of these problems persist. Villagers graze nearly 100,000 head of cattle all over the reserve, but they are traditionally allowed to graze their cattle only in the buffer zone.
The total human population in villages surrounding the reserve has been projected at over 110,000 out of which 39,000 people live within the reserve boundary.
On average, 5.3 percent of the reserve is affected every year by fires, many set by humans, degrading natural forests and hampering regeneration.
India now has 38 tiger reserves in 17 states, each created based on a what the National Tiger Conservation Authority calls a "core-buffer" strategy.
For each tiger reserve, management plans are based on the elimination of all forms of human exploitation and biotic disturbance from the core area and rationalization of activities in the buffer zone.
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In my healing journey and learning to attain the breath awareness, I become aware of the reality that all the creatures of the world are breathing the same breath. Take action, here and now. From my physical being to the every corner of this out of balance's planet.
