Guwahati, Oct. 19: The increasing tiger population at Orang National Park has become a cause of concern for the park authorities, with incidents of big cats attacking cattle belonging to the villagers located on the periphery of the park, on the rise.
Tigers have killed at least 10 heads of cattle last week.
“We fear that the villagers will try to poison the tigers if the attacks on cattle continue,” the Orang divisional forest officer, Sushil Daila, said.
The park has witnessed the deaths of at least 15 tigers since 2005.
While six of them were killed because of poisoning, the rest died of infighting.
The last incident of poisoning took place on August 18 when an adult male tiger was found ill and later died at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation near Kaziranga where it was shifted for treatment.
Altogether 14 tigers were counted in the national park during a census conducted last year.
Unofficial figures, however, put the figures at 18.
“There is no doubt about an increase in tiger population in recent times. We spotted two cubs two months ago,” he said.
Daila said the recent attacks on cattle were being carried out by a particular tiger on villages outside the southern boundary of the park.
“We have learnt after studying the pug marks that the particular tiger is a full grown male,” the official said.
Park authorities have erected 10 camera traps to study the movement of the tiger. “The tiger could be an old one or may be injured as such it is targeting easy prey — cattle,” Daila said.
The forest official said a cage had also been erected to trap the tiger. “We will know the exact reason for the tiger straying out of the park frequently if we manage to trap it. We will have to release the tiger in another habitat if we do not detect any abnormality,” the official said.
The park authorities have formed eco-development committees, involving the villagers, recently in a bid to gain the confidence of the villagers.
Spread over 78.8 square km on the north bank of the Brahmaputra, Orang National Park is a rich wild habitat with several species of wild animals.Daila said apart from these two cubs, the park has also witnessed the birth of at least 10 rhino calves in the past few months.
“This is a positive development,” he said.
Sixty-four rhinos were detected at Orang during the census conducted last year.
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