Dr. George Schaller, world renowned wildlife biologist and emeritus scientist of New York Wildlife Conservation Society, speaking at a programme organized by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) India at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) said that the future of tigers depends on India.
He pointed out that tigers were extinct or near-extinct in Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, China and other Asian countries. He called India, “the only ray of hope” and said that tigers will exist provided there is political will and strict enforcement of wildlife rules.
Dr Schaller also pointed out that demand for meat and skin from the Chinese medicine-making sector haunts the Indian forests, where poachers are eyeing the big cats.