NEW DELHI, January 30 (RIA Novosti) - The Indian government has allocated 6 billion rupees ($152 million) to protect the country's dwindling tiger population, the government's economic relations committee said on Wednesday.
A study by the Wildlife Institute of India said the number of Indian tigers in the wild has more than halved since 2001 to under 1,500.
Urban expansion, loss of habitat, poaching, and lack of security at tiger reserves are among main reasons for the continuing decline.
The money allocated by the government will go toward recruiting retired military personnel to work at national parks, moving 40,000 people from the country's 28 tiger reserves, and creating eight new reserves.
Indian authorities also plan to develop eco-tourism near the national parks to help locals earn a living, as poverty forces many of them to poach.
