India’s tiger numbers are rising. Protecting their pathways is next
India is balancing rapid infrastructure development, such as new highways, with the need to protect wildlife corridors for its rebounding tiger population. Conservationists are emphasizing the importance of underpasses to allow safe passage for animals in human-dominated landscapes.
Why it matters
It addresses the critical intersection of economic growth and biodiversity conservation in one of the world's most populous nations.
RAJAJI TIGER RESERVE, India — It is early morning in late May in the hardwood sal forests of Rajaji Tiger Reserve in north India, and the heat is rising. By afternoon it will reach 39° Celsius (102° Fahrenheit).
I am squatting on the forest floor under National Highway 72, a steady rumble of traffic above, looking at the footprints of a wild elephant in a patch of moist mud that has thus far survived this scorching summer.
This is the Teen Pani (Three Waters) underpass, just 400-odd meters (about 1,300 feet) in length, but good enough to allow everything from mice to elephants to pass safely beneath the highway.
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