UPSC Darpan

Environment & EcologyGS38 October 2026

Tahr, Vulture and Dugong Gains Show Recovery Works as WWF Reports 73% Wildlife Decline

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The news

New Delhi, October 7. WWF’s biennial Living Planet Report 2026 finds the average size of monitored vertebrate populations fell 73% between 1970 and 2022. The index, compiled by the Zoological Society of London from 35,803 population trends, measures relative abundance, not animals lost. Freshwater populations fell 85%, terrestrial 69%, marine 59%; yet half are stable or rising, and wild tigers grew from 3,200 in 2010 to about 5,700 in 2025. In a Hindu op-ed for Wildlife Week, Supriya Sahu of the Tamil Nadu government and Yash Veer Bhatnagar of IUCN India list Indian gains: Nilgiri tahr up from 1,303 to 1,364 in a year; Madhya Pradesh vultures 12,981 in 2025 against 8,397 in 2019; 270 dugongs; 718 snow leopards. Their thesis: recovery needs political continuity across budgets, science and communities.

The chain in one line: Habitat loss, diclofenac and bycatch push species to the brink → the 1972 Act stops outright killing → species plans add breeding, surveys and community roles → State funds and a central scheme back 24 species → counts rise while the global index keeps falling

Static syllabus linkage

  1. The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 now has four Schedules. The 2022 Amendment cut six Schedules to four: I (highest protection), II (lesser protection), III (protected plants) and IV (CITES-listed specimens); the vermin Schedule went. The Nilgiri tahr, dugong and snow leopard are in Schedule I; the tahr, Tamil Nadu’s State animal, is Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
  2. The Living Planet Index and 30x30 measure different things. WWF publishes the biennial Living Planet Report with the Zoological Society of London. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted at the CBD’s COP15 in December 2022, sets 23 targets for 2030; Target 3, called 30x30, asks countries to conserve 30% of land, inland waters and coastal and marine areas.

Why UPSC loves this

  1. Recovery stories are GS3 conservation with numbers attached. The syllabus line is “Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation”. Prelims favours species status and Schedules.

Prelims nuggets

  • The Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022 reduced the Schedules from six to four and placed CITES-listed specimens in Schedule IV.
  • The Nilgiri tahr, endemic to the Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, is the State animal of Tamil Nadu.
  • Veterinary diclofenac was banned in India because vultures eating treated carcasses suffer kidney failure.
  • The Living Planet Index tracks average change in the relative abundance of vertebrate populations, not species lost.

Analysis

  1. The 73% is an average of trends, so both despair and comfort misread it. The index averages how fast monitored populations change, so steep falls can drag it down while half the populations hold steady. Rising tiger and tahr counts do not contradict it. The 85% freshwater fall is the real warning for India, whose rivers and wetlands get less attention than its big mammals.
  2. Lens — Centre and States: the Centre sets the law, but States decide whether a species recovers. The 1972 Act and central schemes give a legal shield and some money, but land use, field staff, fishermen’s compensation and continuity across budgets are State choices. The risk is uneven protection across a range, as for the tahr in two States; a sound officer backs State funds with shared surveys and inter-State plans.
  3. Species-first conservation works best as a door to habitats and livelihoods. A charismatic animal draws budgets that shield its whole habitat. But little-known species struggle for money, and Red List assessments cover only 7.2% of India’s documented animals. Paying fishermen for nets lost freeing dugongs shows the durable model: conservation that costs the local person nothing.

Possible Mains question

India’s recent species recoveries show that conservation succeeds through sustained State-level commitment rather than law alone. Examine. (15 marks, 250 words)

Model approach

  1. Directive — Examine. Test the claim with evidence for and against, then judge.
  2. Introduction — global decline beside local recovery. The 73% figure against tiger, tahr and vulture gains.
  3. Body — law protects, funded plans recover. Schedule I did not save vultures; the diclofenac ban plus breeding at Pinjore did.
  4. Body — State ownership turns plans into results. Project Nilgiri Tahr, the Palk Bay dugong reserve. Value addition: KMGBF Target 3.
  5. Body — the claim’s limits. Freshwater losses need national, habitat-level action. Draw a cycle: law → funding → monitoring → community gain.
  6. Conclusion — continuity across budgets. A national Red List with State plans carrying timelines.

Administrator's brainstorm

As a coastal District Forest Officer, fishermen say freeing a dugong from a net costs them their gear. What do you do?

I would ensure net compensation is paid quickly, because a delayed claim teaches fishermen silence. I would publicly recognise those who release dugongs and enlist them in seagrass monitoring, and aim patrols at destructive gear, not cooperative fishermen.