Tiger poaching in India is a serious threat to the survival oftigers inIndia.[1] About 3,000 wild tigers survive down from 100,000 at the turn of the 20th century. This decline was largely due to the slaughter of tigers by colonial and Indian elites, during theBritish Raj, which continued following India's independence.[2] Most of the 1,700 remaining specimens are India'sBengal tigers.[3]Project Tiger was initially hailed as a great success until it was discovered that the initial tiger count had been seriously flawed.[4]
Most tiger parts end up in China.[5] where a single skin can sell for Rs. 6.5 million.[6]
The conviction rate for poachers is approximately four percent.[7]
Poacher Sansar Chand acknowledged selling 470 tiger skins and 2,130 leopard skins to four clients from Nepal and Tibet.[8] He was termed "the kingpin running the country’s biggest wildlife trade syndicate".[9] He stayed in the trade without arrest for 40 years. He ran his business from Delhi's Sadar Bazar. He was called "Veerappan of the North".[10]
He is blamed for wiping out the entireSariska Tiger Reserve tiger population in 2005[11]
In 1991, a group arrested in Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan confessed that they had poached 15 to 18 tigers over two years for him. In January 2005, a raid at Chand'sgodown in Patel Nagar revealed two tiger skins, 28 leopard skins, 14 tiger canines, three kg of tiger claws, 10 tiger jaws and 60 kg of leopard and tiger paws. In 1988, police had seized 25,800 snake skins from him.[12] Chand's wife Rani and son Akash were also arrested for wildlife trafficking.[13] Chand was arrested in Patel Nagar area New Delhi. Delhi police arrested him after learning that he regularly boughtRajasthan Patrika, a newspaper..[citation needed]
