印度政府爲保護老虎遷移整座村莊大綱

An entire village has been relocated in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan to protect tigers, officials say.

More than 350 people from 82 families in Umri village, in the Sariska tiger reserve, moved to a new location.

The number of tigers in Sariska had dwindled to zero before growing to five over the last three years.

Tiger numbers have shrunk alarmingly in India in recent decades. A 2011 census counted about 1,700 tigers in the wild. A century ago there were estimated to be 100,000 tigers in India.

Umri is the second village in Sariska to be relocated to help secure a proper habitat for tigers to increase their numbers. The villagers moved last week.

There are 11 villages with a population of nearly 2,500 people located in the heart of the tiger reserve which need to be relocated to improve the habitat, Rajasthan's chief conservator of forests, PS Somasekhar, told the BBC.

People living in these villages mostly belong to pastoral tribes.

Mr Somasekhar said efforts were being made to relocate four more villages over the next few years.

"It is a long-drawn process because the villagers have to agree to move out. We can't force them to leave. We can only persuade," he said.

The villagers are compensated with land, cash and livestock worth up to 1 million rupees ($20,000) and relocated to the nearest cultivable plots outside the reserve, Rajasthan's chief wildlife warden AC Chaubey told the BBC.

The number of tigers in the 886-sq-km Sariska reserve dropped to zero from a high of 16 in 2002.

"To maintain a reserve of this size, we need a minimum of 20 female tigers to help with the breeding and a viable population of 80 to 100 tigers," Mr Somasekhar said.

India's most recent tiger census, held last year, indicated that numbers had increased to 1,706 from 1,411 at the last count in 2007.印度政府日前表示，爲了保護數目急劇減少的老虎，已將位於該國北部拉賈斯坦邦的一座村莊整體遷移。

整體遷移的烏木裏村位於薩瑞斯加老虎保護區內，村裏82個家庭的超過350人已經遷移到了其他地區居住。

薩瑞斯加保護區內的老虎數量在過去三年內增加到5只，而在此之前已經瀕臨滅絕。

近幾十年來，印度的老虎數量顯著下降。2011年的統計表明，印度的野生老虎數量爲1700只。而在一個世紀以前，印度大約有10萬隻老虎。

烏木裏村於上週遷走，是薩瑞斯加老虎保護區內爲了給老虎提供合適的棲息地、幫助增加老虎數量而遷走的第二個村莊。

拉賈斯坦邦的森林保護主管PS Somasekhar告訴BBC，有11個村莊、近2500人居住在這個老虎保護區的核心地帶，他們都需要遷走，來改善老虎的生存環境。

這些村民大多是牧民。

Somasekhar先生說，將在今後幾年內着手搬遷另外4個村莊。

他說：“搬遷是個長期過程，因爲需要徵得村民同意。我們不能強制搬遷，只能說服大家。”

拉賈斯坦邦的野生動物負責人AC Chaubey告訴BBC，村民會得到土地、現金和牲畜補償，總價值可達到100萬盧比（合兩萬美元），還可以搬遷到保護區外最近的可耕作土地上。

薩瑞斯加保護區面積886平方公里，2002年老虎數量多達16只，而後幾乎瀕臨滅絕。

Somasekhar先生說：“爲了保持種羣數量，我們需要至少20只母虎繁殖後代，還需要80至100只能存活的老虎。”

印度去年的老虎數量調查在去年進行，結果顯示，老虎數量已經從2007年調查時的1411只增加到1706只。