PM sets up tiger task force

<div class="section0"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister on Thursday took charge of the battle to save the tiger by setting up a task force to look into the dwindling population of the majestic cat.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">The decision, prompted by the alarming reports of continued poaching of the tigers in sanctuaries and national parks, was announced at a meeting of the National Wildlife Board chaired by Manmohan Singh.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">The meeting also took the important decision to phase out the vet drug, Diclofenac, which is said to be reponsible for another environmental catastrophe - death of vultures.The PM also gave the green signal for the setting up of a special National Wildlife Crime Prevention and Control Bureau on the lines of CBI.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">But there was more for the wildlife enthusiasts - a ban on gifting of animals to heads of state allegedly for promotion of friendship and lifting of suspension on tiger sightings in Ranthambore and Sariska.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">The meeting was held a day before the CBI team starts its ''on-site'' investigations about missing tigers in Sariska.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">At the meeting, which went on for over an hour and half, the PM told environment ministry officials to immediately constitute a task force in wildlife reserves across the country and submit its report on Project Tiger at the earliest. The task force comprising of forest officials, representatives of civil society and wildlife experts will also look into the trans-boundary protected area of the reserves.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">The government has accepted that Sariska, Indravati and Ranthambore have been problem reserves. Environment secretary Pradipto Ghosh accepted that there has been a fall in the tiger population since 1998, but countered reports that the steep fall has taken place in the last few months. "The tiger figures have dropped majorly in the last year and we need to probe why this has happened," Ghosh added.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">For Sariska, the official agreed that the co-relation between tiger sighting and the monitoring system has been weak.</span></div> </div>