Bandipur National Park to get 216 forest guards

BANGALORE: The Bandipur National Park will soon receive 216 forest guards. Presently, the national park is short-staffed— it has only 30 forest guards as against the sanctioned strength of 103.

As part of a new rule, the guards will now have to compulsorily serve for five years in a particular location after posting, informed officials of the Bandipur Tiger reserve.

“This had been a longpending need of the reserve and we are glad that, it is finally happening,” says Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF), Bandipur, K T Hanumanthappa.

There are 103 beats (basic unit of administration in a forest division) in the Bandipur Tiger Reserve and the existing lot of 30 guards had to guard it.

There was a vacancy of more than 60 forest guards, which has currently been filled with temporary staff.

Tiger farming, the answer?

After tiger farming—the raising of tigers for commercial trade— has been debunked the world over, a former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests has suggested that it should be used as a conservation strategy.

“We should allow tiger farming on a mass scale and there should licenses issued for shooting tigers,’’ said Parameshwarappa, ex-PCCF at a book launch.

He said that it is high time conservationists realise that conservation needs to be turned into an enterprise. Whatever income is generated from the sale of elephant tusks or commercial farming of tigers, needs to be put back into conservation, he said. With government budget it is impossible to conserve anything in this country, he added.