"There can be no doubt that India's wildlife continues to be plundered by poachers and unscrupulous traders," said CITES Secretary General Willem Wijnstekers.

From a population of more than 100,000 in the 19th century, Asia's wild tiger population has plummeted to an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 individuals. In India alone, official estimates place the tiger population at 3,500 to 3,700, although some experts say there are barely more than 2,000.

Wijnstekers said bureaucratic complications and lack of coordination had muddled enforcement efforts and that many officials were "living in denial" that a problem even existed.

"It would be possible to interpret some of the above points as indicative of a lessening of India's commitment to CITES," he said in an open letter to India's prime minister.

Compared with anti-poaching efforts in southern Africa, which have proven largely effective, India's efforts are lacking, said John Sellar, CITES senior enforcement officer at a news briefing at the United Nations.

While African game wardens are mostly equipped with four-wheel-drive vehicles, radios and automatic rifles, Indian wardens often travel on foot and carry sticks, he said.

"We don't know if these people can protect themselves, let alone the tigers," he said. "This is our last-ditch attempt to get this message across."

CITES' call for action comes as international attention intensifies on India's efforts to protect its tigers, whose skins, bones, teeth, claws and organs are prized as charms or folk remedies.

Tiger hunting is illegal worldwide and international trade in tigers and tiger products is banned under CITES.

Singh has ordered a police investigation into falling tiger numbers and created a new taskforce to save the endangered species. He has vowed to establish a wildlife crime prevention bureau.

But CITES said it saw no evidence that the specialised bureau had actually been established.