India’s Environment Minister to lead International Big Cat Alliance

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav was unanimously endorsed as the President of the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA), a global platform supporting the conservation of the world’s seven big cat species.

The endorsement came during the alliance’s first meeting, held in Delhi on Monday, where member nations extended their full support.

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Ministerial delegations from nine range countries, including the Kingdom of Bhutan, Kingdom of Cambodia, Kingdom of Eswatini, Republic of Guinea, Republic of India, Republic of Liberia, Republic of Suriname, Federal Republic of Somalia, and Republic of Kazakhstan joined the Assembly—the apex body of the IBCA.

The Assembly ratified the key outcomes of IBCA’s first International Steering Committee meeting held in April 2024. According to an official press statement, it also approved the Headquarters Agreement signed with the Republic of India, the alliance’s Workplan, Rules of Procedure, and the Staff and Financial Regulations Manual.

“These will serve as the guiding foundation for the effective governance, operations, and collaborative initiatives of the International Big Cat Alliance,” the official document noted.

Formed as a coalition of 95 range countries, IBCA is mandated to conserve seven big cat species, namely, tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, cheetah, jaguar, and puma. The alliance was launched by the Government of India in 2023.

IBCA was formally established by the Government of India through the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, via an order dated March 12, 2024. Its primary objective is to facilitate collaboration and synergy among range countries and stakeholders by pooling conservation expertise and proven practices to support big cat conservation globally.

Meanwhile, a media report published on Monday, citing data from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), revealed that India has lost 91 Royal Bengal tigers in the past five and a half months. The spike in tiger deaths has been attributed to poaching, territorial fights, human-wildlife conflict, train collisions, and natural causes.