PERIYAR TIGER RESERVE (India): India is turning poachers into gamekeepers in a bid to save its dwindling tiger population. The primitive Mannan tribespeople who once plundered the jungles of tropical southern India, destroying the ecosystem and driving the dwindling number of tigers deeper into what was left of their habitat, now risk their lives to protect them.

By guaranteeing the Mannan a comfortable, legal income from its Project Tiger, the government has made conservation worth more than poaching, says reserve deputy chief Pramod Kishnan.

“The moment the tiger is gone, that money is gone,” he says. “We are converting the destroyers of the park into its protectors. With their help, we have caught about 150 poachers.”

About 500 Mannan families live in round, thatch-roofed huts in a new government settlement on the edge of the park. The men — armed with ancient bolt-action .303 rifles — work mainly as rangers and guides.

The village women make voluntary patrols, giving up one day every two weeks to slog through the jungle. The only equipment the government gives them is a next-to-useless thin plastic raincoat and a green baseball cap with a tiger face on the front.

“We realise now that we were doing such bad things. It was becoming a desert,” says Leila Kasim as she prepares for a patrol. “Now, it’s more alive.”

In March, wildlife experts and the media suddenly started talking of an alarming drop in big cat numbers across India, home to almost half the world’s surviving tigers, saying some of the 32-year-old Project Tiger’s showcase reserves now had none.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ordered a police investigation and announced a special wildlife anti-crime taskforce.

“We have a problem at hand and if we don’t tackle it effectively, I think we could be doing irretrievable damage to our heritage,” he said last month on a tour of Ranthambhore reserve a few hours from New Delhi. “The future is in our hands.”

Singh did sight a tigress, “Lady of the Lake”, although some newspapers said that was more than likely thanks to an old ranger trick to keep VIPs happy: use a bait to lure an animal whose habits are known close to the guest’s pre-planned route.

—Reuters