India: Ban on Tiger Tourism Criticized by Conservationists
By Larry Habegger and Laurie Weed | Permalink
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No Comments | July 25th, 2012 | Trackback
In what may be a misguided effort to protect the endangered cats, India’s highest court has issued a ban on “tiger tourism.” The edict forbids commercial activity in the country’s world-famous tiger reserves—home to about half of the world’s remaining 3,200 tigers. Wildlife conservationists, along with scores of local tour operators and guides, expressed dismay over the decision, citing numerous studies that demonstrate tourism actually protects the tigers. Keeping the parks populated with visitors and guides hinders poaching activity, and provides an economic incentive for local villagers to keep the tigers safe. As a case in point, few tourists if any have visited Sariska and Panna, two tiger reserves in India that have lost every tiger they had, while in the popular Bandhavgarh reserve, the tiger population is flourishing.
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