JAIPUR: After five tigers were shifted to Sariska reserve from Ranthambore National Park, the focus had shifted to the latter with Union minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh himself setting the agenda for the national park.
In a letter to chief minister Ashok Gehlot recently, Ramesh, while expressing happiness on the increasing population of big cats in Ranthambore, however expressed the need for improvement of the habitat in the remaining part of the core area so as to accommodate those tigers left without a territory. Ramesh had sought the personal intervention of Gehlot into the matter.
In his letter, the Union minister had explained that the original national park is considerably small in area and hence there was a need to expand other parts of the park.
Ranthambore currently has nearly 40 tigers in an area of 1,334 sq km along with the nearby sanctuaries of Kailadevi and Man Singh. While the large number of cats spell good for conservationists, the flip side is that many tigers have strayed away from the park due to want of space or are getting more and more involved in territorial fights that sometimes turn fatal.
It is in this context that the ministry of forests expressed urgency in improving the conditions there. In fact, the minister had spelled out the need for correcting the sex ratio and even hinted at relocating tigers from Ranthambore to outside the state in his last visit.
The union minister had urged for expediting the relocation of some villages from the core area especially the remaining families of Padra, Indala and Machanki, besides other villages that has an immediate impact on a priority basis. The minister has sought a complete proposal incorporating details of all the villages in a prescribed format for central assistance.
The proposal for a special tiger protection force had also been stressed in the letter. The Centre had given a total of Rs 93 lakh to the state for raising such a force for the better protection of tigers in the park. The minister had sought immediate action in this regard.
Also on the agenda is the notification of a buffer zone around the core area of the tiger habitat. The minister has sought an active management of such a zone around the forest by the state so as to secure the support of the local people by providing them livelihood options with Central assistance.
Ramesh had also hinted in his letter to the chief minister for preparing a consolidated Tiger Conservation Plan in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India for tigers in the core and buffer zones.
Besides, the creation of satellite core areas' has also been sought to accommodate tigers straying out of the national park. In this context, the sanctuaries of Dara and Ramgarh Vishdhari have been identified by the minister as probable satellite core areas
.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Jairam-Ramesh-sets-agenda-for-Ranthambore/articleshow/6327332.cms
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Ranthambore village Tiger attack: Villagers still in a state of shock Read more: Tiger attack: Villagers still in a state of shock
GOPALPURA (SAWAI MADHOPUR): It has been three days since the residents of Gopalpura found the half-eaten body of a 22-year-old youth and they are yet to recover from the shock. After frequent sightings of a tiger near their village, they fear more attacks and have lost faith in the forest officials.
Contrary to the forest officials' claim that the youth, Hemraj Gujjar, was attacked by the beast while he was cutting wood, the villagers say that he was attacked on his way to the temple situated on a nearby hillock. "We went looking for him when he did not return till noon. Around 3 pm on Sunday, we found his half-eaten body near the temple,'' said Harpal Gujjar, who along with four others had gone to search for Hemraj.
On Tuesday, the scared villagers immediately informed the offcials after pug marks were spotted just near the village where Hemraj was cremated on Monday. A team of forest officials reached the spot to inspect the marks and confirmed that they belonged to a male tiger. An official, however, told TOI that the pug marks do not match with the one spotted near the youth's body.
"The officials did not believe us when we told them that tigers are usually spotted just outside our village. Infuriated villagers criticised the forest officials' warning not to venture into the forest. "Do the officials expect us to stop visiting the temple,'' asked Rajulal Meena, sarpanch of the village. Meena alleged that last night or early on Tuesday morning, a tiger had "strayed" into an area which is less than 50 metres away from the village.
"The temple is a little over 1 km away but the cremation ground is right at the corner. If a tiger can come here, it can wander into the village any time,'' said Meena, adding that this is the third such incident in the area over the past three months.
Villagers claim they had sighted a tiger several times during the last fortnight and had informed the forest officials, but the authorities failed to respond.
"On Saturday, we had found the caracass of a buffalo. We are sure that it was attacked by a tiger. It was an alarm for us," said V P Singh, a retired government employee and a villager.
Gopalpura is located near the Ranthambore forest area. The villagers earlier lived in a place called Silavdi, which was located inside the national park. They have been relocated here since 1978. However, Gopalpura is also located in the buffer zone and tiger sightings are common
.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Tiger-attack-Villagers-still-in-a-state-of-shock/articleshow/6327338.cms
Contrary to the forest officials' claim that the youth, Hemraj Gujjar, was attacked by the beast while he was cutting wood, the villagers say that he was attacked on his way to the temple situated on a nearby hillock. "We went looking for him when he did not return till noon. Around 3 pm on Sunday, we found his half-eaten body near the temple,'' said Harpal Gujjar, who along with four others had gone to search for Hemraj.
On Tuesday, the scared villagers immediately informed the offcials after pug marks were spotted just near the village where Hemraj was cremated on Monday. A team of forest officials reached the spot to inspect the marks and confirmed that they belonged to a male tiger. An official, however, told TOI that the pug marks do not match with the one spotted near the youth's body.
"The officials did not believe us when we told them that tigers are usually spotted just outside our village. Infuriated villagers criticised the forest officials' warning not to venture into the forest. "Do the officials expect us to stop visiting the temple,'' asked Rajulal Meena, sarpanch of the village. Meena alleged that last night or early on Tuesday morning, a tiger had "strayed" into an area which is less than 50 metres away from the village.
"The temple is a little over 1 km away but the cremation ground is right at the corner. If a tiger can come here, it can wander into the village any time,'' said Meena, adding that this is the third such incident in the area over the past three months.
Villagers claim they had sighted a tiger several times during the last fortnight and had informed the forest officials, but the authorities failed to respond.
"On Saturday, we had found the caracass of a buffalo. We are sure that it was attacked by a tiger. It was an alarm for us," said V P Singh, a retired government employee and a villager.
Gopalpura is located near the Ranthambore forest area. The villagers earlier lived in a place called Silavdi, which was located inside the national park. They have been relocated here since 1978. However, Gopalpura is also located in the buffer zone and tiger sightings are common
.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Tiger-attack-Villagers-still-in-a-state-of-shock/articleshow/6327338.cms
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