After poachers, it is sustained official insensitivity, and the human-animal conflict that threatens the endangered species of the great Indian tiger
Akash Bisht Ramnagar/Dhikala
Every night, the Kiari village on the fringes of Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand attracts several intruders from the wild who pillage the fields of farmers, dependent on the little produce that the land yields. The increasing loss of crop over the years has forced farmers near the park to wage a war against herds of wild boars and elephants. Wild boars, the most frequent among these uninvited guests, are considered 'enemy number one' as they destroy an entire crop with amazing speed. This phenomenon has pushed farmers to lay traps (wire snares) near their fields. Ironically, the tragedy is that in this battle for survival, these ugly confrontations sometimes claim innocent victims - precious tigers and leopards.
On March 16, one such wire snare killed a tiger near the Phata range. This was the fifth tiger death in the past four months that even had Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sit up and take notice at the recently held National Board for Wildlife meeting.
Corbett has the densest population of tigers in the world and some tigers are bound to die owing to natural causes like ageing, diseases and animal-animal conflict. Out of the five tiger deaths, one was poisoned, while the rest, except for the Phata tiger, died of natural causes. The Wildlife Protection Society of India informed Hardnews that 16 tigers have died in the park since 2008; two were seizures wherein tiger skin and bones were recovered. Corbett reserve has around '150-200 villages' in the vicinity, and tigers, known to be wanderers, often walk into human settlements forcing a deadly human-animal conflict.
"We don't have any safety from the wild boars and we have conveyed this to the forest department, but our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. The compensation paid for the crops destroyed is abysmally low and doesn't cover more than 10 per cent of the total cost. So the villagers are left with no option but to resort to such extreme measures," says Vidya Sagar Kiari village.
Often, domesticated animals stray deep into the reserve looking for greener pastures; they sometimes fall prey to tigers. Infuriated villagers consequently resort to revenge killings wherein they poison the carcass of the big cat's kill, which can lead to painful death of the tiger.
Citing this confrontation, the Corbett Foundation (CF) in collaboration with World Wildlife Fund (WWF), introduced an interim relief scheme wherein villagers are paid Rs 3,000 or less for every cattle killed by a tiger or leopard. This scheme has genuinely helped in reducing tiger mortality due to poisoning. "The people of the hills have a strong emotional bonding with their cattle and their death is deeply mourned by family members. They get so aggrieved that they poison the kill to avenge its death," says Dr Harendra Singh Bargali, deputy director, CF.
Bargali said that as soon as villagers inform them of a killing by a big cat, a team is dispatched to investigate. Once the kill is confirmed, the villagers are paid the amount promptly. This cools them down. "The forest department also provides compensation to villagers but it takes six months to a year to get the paltry sum. That's where we come in and try to calm the villagers by providing some financial assistance," says Bargali.
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