'Tigers attack livestock due to poor prey base in Molem'

PANAJI: Goa's wildlife sanctuaries, especially Molem and Mhadei, are part of a corridor for tigers, but a poor prey base makes it attack livestock, says A J T Johnsingh, wildlife advisor, wildlife institute of India (WII).

"They come here occassionally because there is good forest cover, but rampant poaching forces them to go for livestock, and people come to know about it," says Johnsingh, eminent wildlife biologist.

Last week, a sambar was killed near Anjunem dam and forest officials were shown the carcass and pug marks of the tiger. A buffalo and a cow had been killed in February and September this year in ghat areas of Chorla. A tiger had been shot dead after being trapped near a stream in Keri last year.

"Tigers come occasionally and they are reported in Mhadei and Molem. They are looking for a home and keep migrating," he said.

But Johnsingh is concerned about the weakened prey base due to rampant poaching in Goa and Karnataka.

"The condition of sambar, the largest deer in Asia ,is very dismal and the barking deer and bison (Gaur) are affected by lot of poaching over the years," he said.

The wildlife biologist is conducting a study through Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore, which has been funded by the Union ministry of environment and forests.

"The effort is aimed at looking at the landscape and corridor for large mammals, focussing on sambars, tiger, elephant, gaur among others, from Kanyakumari to Sahyadris," he said.

Johnsingh visited four wildlife sanctuaries of Mhadei, Bhagwan Mahaveer in Molem, Neturlim and Cotigao for his rapid survey. "There are a lot of settlements inside sanctuaries, and the residents wield political influence," he added.

The forest department census in 2004 had enumerated five tigers in Goa. But wildlife enthusiasts have been critical of forest department's denial mode of the tiger's existence in Goa in the past.

Human intervention in the form of mining, deforestation and growing settlement areas are seen as the biggest threats to this global bio-diversity hotspot. "For this reason, environmental bodies from three states had proposed to MOEF the creation of Sahyadri Ecologically Sensitive Area (SESA) in three states," Claude Alvares, an environmentalist said.

Nitin Sawant, director world wide fund for nature (WWF) Goa said the stress should be on saving the tiger habitat instead of saving the big cat. "Mining activities should not be allowed in and around the vicinity of the tiger corridor," he said.

Johnsingh said he had conveyed to Goa's chief wildlife warden Shashi Kumar his observation about the poor prey base. "We could see the bison only in Molem and not any other sanctuaries," he said.

Johnsingh, who will submit his report shortly, said the state has a good forest cover with the state's wildlife sanctuaries spanning a protective cover of 755 sq km. Bhimgad wildlife sanctuary and other forest areas in Karnataka form a contiguous passage for wildlife. Tigers from nearby Anshi tiger reserve are known to stray into Goa.

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has recognised the Goa corridor as Tiger Conservation Unit (TCU) mark 2, whereas major tiger habitats (Bandipur, Madamalai, Nagarhole) are graded on a higher scale."Goa is an important buffer zone if Anshi comes under some threat ," sources said.

Additional principal chief conservator, Shashi Kumar confirmed he had discussions with Johnsingh.

"We are waiting for assessment of preliminary data from WII," he said, and added. "A camera trap method as part of second phase of wildlife census will help clear a few aspects regarding tiger's movement in Goa."

But the WII advisor called for curbs on poaching. "Not much attention is given to it," he said, recalling Keri tiger poaching case. Further, he said any effort to increase the wild life will need lot of conservation.

"If the habitat is given good protection, it will take several years for the population to increase."

Naxal threat affects tigers too

The national tiger reserve which is situated in this backward district has been affected by the activities of the Maoists. And now nobody knows whether there are any tigers left in the reserve.

Nationwide drive

Established in 1973 and spread across 1,014 sq.km., the reserve had 22 tigers. In spite of a nationwide drive to conserve tigers, the big cat's population in this district has been dwindling. The 2007 census put the Palamu tiger population at 17. This has further reduced to 13, according to a forest guard. However the actual figures are not known as the Maoist presence impeded survey.

Increased naxal activities are also affecting routine forest management. A senior official says more than 70 per cent of the reserve remains unprotected as the officials and staff have come under attack from the Maoists.

According to him, in May 1999 a ranger was abducted and robbed, in August 2003 a forest tracker was killed and in September 2004 a forester and driver were killed in a landmine blast. Last year the rebels killed a forest ranger and robbed him. A forest guard says: “Earlier the reserve used to be open till late at night but as the animal's eyes were being affected by the torch used by the guide to point at the animals, we close the reserve early.”

Water scarcity

Scarcity of water is also affecting the reserve. It is one of the poorest districts in India and classified by the State government as “food insecure.”

Keywords: Palamu tiger reserve, naxal threat