I think that most of the tiger conservation projects in India have not done very well because of corruption. The import and exportation of tiger parts is a sizable business but just try to imagine the dynamics of such a business. Just think of a typical government employee – he chooses to be corrupt (and helps the poachers) just to earn some money- and how much money is that ? Not much! Just imagine that he gets the same money ( or slightly more money than that) from the Indian government as an increased salary. Now, will he help the poachers? Not at all- why should he help them? And, without his help, will the poachers be able to carry on their business? No.

Not more than 1500 tigers are left in India. Tiger conservation is an issue of national importance.  If the government increases the salaries of all the people associated with tiger conservation(by 300%, say), perhaps the problem can be solved. And not more than 50,000 people are associated directly with tiger conservation. Increasing their salaries should not be a problem for the government- after all it is in the nation’s interest to do so.