Conservationists demand swift action to stop tiger poaching

India along with 12 other Asian nations which are home to world's decreasing tiger population today declared a war against traffickers and agreed to share intelligence to stop poaching of the endangered animal.
Representatives from the countries expressed commitment to stamp out poaching, as they concluded a five-day conference co-hosted by Nepal and conservation group WWF.
"This is the beginning of the end for poaching across Asia," said Mike Baltzer, leader, WWF Tigers Alive Initiative.
The conference adopted five recommendations which include swift and decisive action against poaching, cooperation among stakeholders within and between borders, adoption of zero- poaching toolkit, augment training and support for rangers and other frontline staff, said WWF Nepal.

The recommendations also include a commitment to deify a zero-poaching national contact point to effectively coordinate trans-boundary efforts to stop poaching, the group said in a statement.
"We cannot allow wildlife crime to continue to wrap its tentacles deeper into the region," said Tika Ram Adhikari, director general of Nepal's department of wildlife conservation and soil conservation.

Trafficking and habitat destruction have slashed the global tiger population from 100,000 a century ago to nearly 3,000, according to International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
"Our individual efforts may win us a few battles, but we can only win the war if Asia presents a united front to stop the poaching, end the trafficking and wipe out demand," said Adhikari.

Nepal -- home to around 200 tigers, 534 rhinos and 150 wild elephants -- was the natural host of the conference, having achieved zero-poaching twice in the past four years.
"Nepal was proud to host this vital Asian conversation meeting because we recognise that poaching is robbing us of our wildlife wealth, which includes tigers, rhinos and elephants," he said.