In simpler terms, Mitra wants farm-bred tigers to be released (not reintroduced) in the forests so that hunting licenses can be issued with part of the profit going to the local communities. In effect, he wants to reduce our forests to expansive hunting ranches where helpless captive-bred tigers — and with them the remaining wild ones, if any — will be subject to legal butchery in the name of helping the communities.

For some strange reason, Mitra doesn’t even consider the idea of empowering the same communities by engaging them in protection work and tourism. If our wilderness is protected well, it can sustain a multi-billion dollar tourism industry. Together the two initiatives can absorb all the local stakeholders Mitra is apparently concerned for. And as a huge bonus, the forests protected in the name of the tiger will also ensure our water and food security.

Chasing his market dream, Mitra should remember that though technology may have withstood the Made-in-China model, ecology won’t.