LUCKNOW: The man-mauling tigers of Katarniaghat have been localised. The fresh pugmarks show that big cats are present in the same area, where they had made the killings. Three men have been killed in feline attacks in Katarniaghat between January 6 and 11. The men were killed at different spots and at different points of time.
"There have been no killings after that. We have got fresh pugmarks at the place and can say that tigers are still present in the same area," said a forest officer. The pugmark impression pads have been made in the area to track the movement of tigers. And on the basis of pugmarks obtained, officials said that tigers might have not moved to a new area.
The monitoring is on. The experts from WTI and tiger biologists are present at the spot. The first human killing was reported from Sadar beat of Katarniaghat range on January 6. The man was killed by a feline when he had gone to the sugarcane field in the morning. His body was recovered about 50 metres away from boundary of jungle. The body was intact and not eaten.
The second killing came a day after that and body was recovered from the dense part of forest in the same range. The left foot was missing. There was no way to prove if the body was eaten by the tiger or any other animal. The spot was 12 kms away from the place where the first killing took place. The last killing was made on January 11 in Nishangadha range.
The forest officers at the spot shared that in two cases it could be the tigress which killed the men. "If they are same or different is difficult to say but so far it appears that there are three different tigers," said an officer. Patrolling is on in the area. Elephants have been called for combing operations. Locals are being constantly told to be cautious.
Katarniaghat wildlife sanctuary spread over some 400 sq km has a good tiger population. In the last census, 58 tigers were reported to be present here. The increasing biotic pressure has been a constant problem even in this part of the forest.
Meanwhile, officers denied that any of these man-mauling tigers could also be man-eaters. Though the tigers have not struck after January 11, officers have not even found any natural prey killed by tigers in the area where they have been localised.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Expert raises ecology doubt on tiger park
G.S. MUDUR
Habitat under doubt
New Delhi, Jan. 15: A government move to declare a wildlife sanctuary in southern Karnataka as a new tiger reserve is unscientific and reflects arbitrary decision-making on tiger reserves, a leading wildlife scientist has said.
The Union cabinet in principle approved on Friday the creation of five new tiger reserves — the Biligiri Ranganatha Temple (BRT) sanctuary in Karnataka, Ratapani in Madhya Pradesh, Sunpeda inOrissa, Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, and Mukundara hills in Rajasthan.
“The choice defies ecology-based science,” said Ulhas Karanth, director of the Centre for Wildlife Studies, Bangalore, who has conducted research on the ecology of tigers and prey-predator population ecology in several parts of the country.
India’s tiger conservation programme launched in 1972-73 with nine reserves covering about 1,400sqkm has expanded over the years, and now has 39 reserves over an area of 46,390sqkm.
Project Tiger is believed to have helped increase the tiger population from less than 1,000 in the early-1970s to about 1,400 as estimated in 2008.
“This process of continuous expansion of tiger reserve areas appears to have become rather ad hoc,” Karanth said. “You can’t just go on adding areas. Some areas might also need to be deleted from the list of tiger reserves.”
Karanth said areas now devoid of tigers such as Panna in Madhya Pradesh or Sariska in Rajasthan or remote forests such as Indravati in Chhattisgarh, located in areas of civil unrest where wildlife staff do not venture, remain labelled as tiger reserves.
A tiger reserve gets significant extra funds through Project Tiger — and sections of wildlife researchers appear concerned that listing areas with unviable tiger populations or areas that cannot be adequately managed only allows scarce conservation resources to be spent on areas that are unlikely to actually benefit tigers.
Karanth said the move to declare the Biligiri Ranganatha Temple hills sanctuary as a new tiger reserve is an example of arbitrary decision-making that has ignored strong ecological arguments in favour of Kudremukh, also in Karnataka.
The proposed BRT hills reserve is adjacent to Bandipur and Nagarahole — two reserves with high density of tiger population. Kudremukh, on the other hand, is located at a distance in Karnataka’s central Western Ghat region. “Instead of having all tigers in a single corner of the state, it makes better sense to have them in different areas,” Karanth said.
The Biligiri Ranganatha Temple hill area is also ecologically similar to Bandipur-Nagarahole, which has deciduous forests, while Kudremukh has tropical evergreen forests that are also rich in other species. A tiger reserve in Kudremukh would also help conserve its biodiversity, he said.
But wildlife officials and other conservation scientists say demarcating new areas as tiger reserves only helps increase the level of protection to already existing tiger populations in those areas. “We have to take a long-term view,” said a conservation scientist.
“The Biligiri Ranganatha Temple hills sanctuary already has an estimated population of about 35 tigers and appears able to support double the number,” said Milind Pariwakam, a manager of tiger conservation initiatives with the Wildlife Trust of India, a non-government organisation.
Habitat under doubt
New Delhi, Jan. 15: A government move to declare a wildlife sanctuary in southern Karnataka as a new tiger reserve is unscientific and reflects arbitrary decision-making on tiger reserves, a leading wildlife scientist has said.
The Union cabinet in principle approved on Friday the creation of five new tiger reserves — the Biligiri Ranganatha Temple (BRT) sanctuary in Karnataka, Ratapani in Madhya Pradesh, Sunpeda inOrissa, Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, and Mukundara hills in Rajasthan.
“The choice defies ecology-based science,” said Ulhas Karanth, director of the Centre for Wildlife Studies, Bangalore, who has conducted research on the ecology of tigers and prey-predator population ecology in several parts of the country.
India’s tiger conservation programme launched in 1972-73 with nine reserves covering about 1,400sqkm has expanded over the years, and now has 39 reserves over an area of 46,390sqkm.
Project Tiger is believed to have helped increase the tiger population from less than 1,000 in the early-1970s to about 1,400 as estimated in 2008.
“This process of continuous expansion of tiger reserve areas appears to have become rather ad hoc,” Karanth said. “You can’t just go on adding areas. Some areas might also need to be deleted from the list of tiger reserves.”
Karanth said areas now devoid of tigers such as Panna in Madhya Pradesh or Sariska in Rajasthan or remote forests such as Indravati in Chhattisgarh, located in areas of civil unrest where wildlife staff do not venture, remain labelled as tiger reserves.
A tiger reserve gets significant extra funds through Project Tiger — and sections of wildlife researchers appear concerned that listing areas with unviable tiger populations or areas that cannot be adequately managed only allows scarce conservation resources to be spent on areas that are unlikely to actually benefit tigers.
Karanth said the move to declare the Biligiri Ranganatha Temple hills sanctuary as a new tiger reserve is an example of arbitrary decision-making that has ignored strong ecological arguments in favour of Kudremukh, also in Karnataka.
The proposed BRT hills reserve is adjacent to Bandipur and Nagarahole — two reserves with high density of tiger population. Kudremukh, on the other hand, is located at a distance in Karnataka’s central Western Ghat region. “Instead of having all tigers in a single corner of the state, it makes better sense to have them in different areas,” Karanth said.
The Biligiri Ranganatha Temple hill area is also ecologically similar to Bandipur-Nagarahole, which has deciduous forests, while Kudremukh has tropical evergreen forests that are also rich in other species. A tiger reserve in Kudremukh would also help conserve its biodiversity, he said.
But wildlife officials and other conservation scientists say demarcating new areas as tiger reserves only helps increase the level of protection to already existing tiger populations in those areas. “We have to take a long-term view,” said a conservation scientist.
“The Biligiri Ranganatha Temple hills sanctuary already has an estimated population of about 35 tigers and appears able to support double the number,” said Milind Pariwakam, a manager of tiger conservation initiatives with the Wildlife Trust of India, a non-government organisation.
Tiger strays into human habitation, alert sounded in lakhimpur
An alert was sounded today in Mailani range of South Kheri division after a tiger strayed into human habitations.
"The alert has been sounded due to the presence of a tiger in human habitat", A K Singh, Ranger, Mailani, said.
The tiger, while chasing a deer, strayed into the human habitation where some labourers were engaged in constructing a check dam.
"The residents of four villages living in the vicinity of the area have been cautioned about the movement of the tiger", Singh said.
He ruled out any imminent man-animal conflict, describing the incident of the tiger's killing the deer as a natural phenomenon.
"The alert has been sounded due to the presence of a tiger in human habitat", A K Singh, Ranger, Mailani, said.
The tiger, while chasing a deer, strayed into the human habitation where some labourers were engaged in constructing a check dam.
"The residents of four villages living in the vicinity of the area have been cautioned about the movement of the tiger", Singh said.
He ruled out any imminent man-animal conflict, describing the incident of the tiger's killing the deer as a natural phenomenon.
Bombay HC comes to aid of Koyna wildlife reserve
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has now come to the rescue of Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary, which forms part of the only tiger reserve in western Maharashtra.
Hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) about illegal felling of trees and setting up of unauthorized windmills and resorts in the sanctuary, the court earlier this month issued notice to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) after allowing it to be added as a party. The court also extended its deadline for the state government to submit its report on the sanctuary by February 22, 2011.
The high court, in October 2010, had directed the state not to allow new windmills or new structures, including resorts in the sanctuary. The authorities were also asked to consider issuing eviction notices to persons who have constructed unauthorized structures inside the sanctuary.
Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary and its neighbouring Chandoli National Park together form the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, the first tiger reserve western Maharashtra created in January 2010. The reserve, spread over 741 sq km, is home to nine tigers and 66 leopards, besides other birds and wild animals and even a unique species of toad-Bufo koyanansis.
The other three tiger reserves in the state are all in Vidarbha-Melghat, Tadoba and Pench (see box).
The PIL was filed by Satara resident Nana Khamkar, who alleged that state was illegally permitting windmills to be set up and trees to be felled inside the sanctuary. Khamkar relied on information provided under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by the range forest officer (wildlife), Koyna, who stated that around 550 trees were felled in a three-hectare area in the sanctuary.
Further, around 215 windmills and 10 resorts have come up in the sanctuary without any permission from Indian Wildlife Board.
The RTI reply also mentioned that offences were registered against 159 windmills way back in 2001-02 and inquiry was still on.
Khamkar pointed out that the authorities were also trying to have Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary declared as a Unesco Heritage site and the presence of windmills, resorts and encroachments would affect its bid.
The high court in October had asked the chief secretary to hear the petitioners and other parties in the case and submit a report to the court.
The judges had directed the state to ensure that necessary police protection was given to the range forest officer to carry out the high court's orders.
The high court has scheduled further hearing of the case on February 24, 2011.
Hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) about illegal felling of trees and setting up of unauthorized windmills and resorts in the sanctuary, the court earlier this month issued notice to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) after allowing it to be added as a party. The court also extended its deadline for the state government to submit its report on the sanctuary by February 22, 2011.
The high court, in October 2010, had directed the state not to allow new windmills or new structures, including resorts in the sanctuary. The authorities were also asked to consider issuing eviction notices to persons who have constructed unauthorized structures inside the sanctuary.
Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary and its neighbouring Chandoli National Park together form the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, the first tiger reserve western Maharashtra created in January 2010. The reserve, spread over 741 sq km, is home to nine tigers and 66 leopards, besides other birds and wild animals and even a unique species of toad-Bufo koyanansis.
The other three tiger reserves in the state are all in Vidarbha-Melghat, Tadoba and Pench (see box).
The PIL was filed by Satara resident Nana Khamkar, who alleged that state was illegally permitting windmills to be set up and trees to be felled inside the sanctuary. Khamkar relied on information provided under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by the range forest officer (wildlife), Koyna, who stated that around 550 trees were felled in a three-hectare area in the sanctuary.
Further, around 215 windmills and 10 resorts have come up in the sanctuary without any permission from Indian Wildlife Board.
The RTI reply also mentioned that offences were registered against 159 windmills way back in 2001-02 and inquiry was still on.
Khamkar pointed out that the authorities were also trying to have Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary declared as a Unesco Heritage site and the presence of windmills, resorts and encroachments would affect its bid.
The high court in October had asked the chief secretary to hear the petitioners and other parties in the case and submit a report to the court.
The judges had directed the state to ensure that necessary police protection was given to the range forest officer to carry out the high court's orders.
The high court has scheduled further hearing of the case on February 24, 2011.
Tiger was poached in Andhra Pradesh
CHANDRAPUR: The mystery of the poached tiger whose skin was seized during raids by the local crime branch recently at Gadchandur, has been finally resolved. Investigations have revealed that the tiger was poached on the outskirts of Vempalli village in Kagaznagar range of Andhra Pradesh. Forest officials of Kagaznagar range have arrested the accused Anandrao Madavi who poached the tiger and had recovered the carcass buried in the nullah close to Vempali village.
Acting on a tip-off given by Wildlife Protection Society of India ( WPSI), a joint team of LCB and Gadchandur cops seized a tiger skin from the possession of six couriers on January 6.
The accused revealed that one of their relatives had poached the tiger on the outskirts of Vempalli village in Adilabad district of AP and brought the skin here to seek customers. Following the seizure of the tiger skin, officials of Central Chanda forest division took up the matter and informed their counterparts in Andhra Pradesh. Accordingly, a team of forest officials from Kagaznagar range reached Gadchandur and took details of the case from the police.
Following the information, forest officials of Kagaznagar carried out raids in Vempalli village and arrested the main accused, Anandrao Madavi (32).
"Madavi had put electrified wire to prevent intrusion of wild animals into his farm in the jungle. However, a fully grown tiger got electrocuted by the wire and died on the spot. Madavi then skinned the animal and buried the carcass in the nullah passing through the outskirts of his farm," said ACF, Rajura, KD Kove.
Taking cognizance of the incident, assistant director of Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, a central government agency, Shaik Karimulla visited Vempalli with Kove and inspected the spot where the poaching took place. Kove explained that Madavi might have put the wire to prevent intrusion of herbivores and got enticed by the skin of the tiger died of electrocution.
Madavi allegedly traveled over 40 km on bicycle and brought the skin to his brother-in-law Bhimrao Sidam at Ambezari village in Jiwti tehsil of Maharashtra to seek a customer.
Kove praised the efforts of Kazaznagar forest officials to arrest the accused from the highly Naxal-infested area in AP.
"The poaching was carried out around three weeks prior to the arrest of six couriers. The remains of the tiger unearthed from the ground were fresh, but stinking. Accused Madavi had chopped the skinned carcass into pieces before burying it in the nullah," said Kove. He said that accused Madavi has been sent into magisterial custody remand after Kagaznagar forest officials produced him before the local court.
Police officials from Gadchandur are trying to seek his custody and are likely to approach the authorities in Andhra Pradesh next Monday to fetch him. Meanwhile, the six accused arrested with the tiger skin were sent to magisterial custody remand by Rajura court after their three-day long police custody remand ended on Saturday.
Acting on a tip-off given by Wildlife Protection Society of India ( WPSI), a joint team of LCB and Gadchandur cops seized a tiger skin from the possession of six couriers on January 6.
The accused revealed that one of their relatives had poached the tiger on the outskirts of Vempalli village in Adilabad district of AP and brought the skin here to seek customers. Following the seizure of the tiger skin, officials of Central Chanda forest division took up the matter and informed their counterparts in Andhra Pradesh. Accordingly, a team of forest officials from Kagaznagar range reached Gadchandur and took details of the case from the police.
Following the information, forest officials of Kagaznagar carried out raids in Vempalli village and arrested the main accused, Anandrao Madavi (32).
"Madavi had put electrified wire to prevent intrusion of wild animals into his farm in the jungle. However, a fully grown tiger got electrocuted by the wire and died on the spot. Madavi then skinned the animal and buried the carcass in the nullah passing through the outskirts of his farm," said ACF, Rajura, KD Kove.
Taking cognizance of the incident, assistant director of Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, a central government agency, Shaik Karimulla visited Vempalli with Kove and inspected the spot where the poaching took place. Kove explained that Madavi might have put the wire to prevent intrusion of herbivores and got enticed by the skin of the tiger died of electrocution.
Madavi allegedly traveled over 40 km on bicycle and brought the skin to his brother-in-law Bhimrao Sidam at Ambezari village in Jiwti tehsil of Maharashtra to seek a customer.
Kove praised the efforts of Kazaznagar forest officials to arrest the accused from the highly Naxal-infested area in AP.
"The poaching was carried out around three weeks prior to the arrest of six couriers. The remains of the tiger unearthed from the ground were fresh, but stinking. Accused Madavi had chopped the skinned carcass into pieces before burying it in the nullah," said Kove. He said that accused Madavi has been sent into magisterial custody remand after Kagaznagar forest officials produced him before the local court.
Police officials from Gadchandur are trying to seek his custody and are likely to approach the authorities in Andhra Pradesh next Monday to fetch him. Meanwhile, the six accused arrested with the tiger skin were sent to magisterial custody remand by Rajura court after their three-day long police custody remand ended on Saturday.
To save the tiger, save jungle
Without a holistic approach nothing can protect India's wildlife from human greed and bestiality. If we don’t act now, the tiger, leopard, elephant, deer and even marine and avian species will face extinction
Last Tuesday it was Gurgaon. On Wednesday, it happened on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. On Thursday, it was near Guwahati. By the time January is out, the toll can only be anticipated to multiply. On an average three to four leopards are mercilessly beaten to death every week by bloodthirsty villagers. Some die in accidents such as the cub that got run over by a train in Assam. But mostly the big cats are mauled to death by gruesome methods. Having encircled and trapped the terrified creature that may have strayed into human habitation in search of food, villagers pelt them with stones; beat them with iron rods and in a few instances are known to have even gouged their eyes out in an orgy of bestiality.
Eyewitnesses say that a carnival atmosphere prevails while the hapless cat cries out in pain. People congregate with drums as if to celebrate victory in battle. Cunningly, the carcass is dragged outside village precincts, sprayed with kerosene and set alight to remove traces of the crime. By the time forest officials or the police arrive, if at all they do, the deed is done. If confronted, belligerent villagers dare the officers to act. Outnumbered, enforcers of the law beat a hasty retreat and file a report blaming unknown persons for the murder. Few are prosecuted; leave alone punished.
In recent years the supposed man-animal conflict has become a one-sided affair with a variety of wild creatures being regularly bludgeoned to death. A recent report said that enraged by the alleged depredations of a herd of elephants, villagers managed to catch hold of a two-year-old calf that got left behind and beat it to death the same way as they often do with leopards. Fearful of the tiger, people don’t venture to kill them in frontal combat, but have increasingly started to use poison with which they lace a bait and wait for the unwary beast to consume it to die a slow, painful death. This has been reported particularly from Rajasthan and eastern Uttar Pradesh where incidents of tigers straying from sanctuaries have risen markedly.
There are two worrisome facets to these developments. First, the Government’s much-hyped conservation efforts are being defeated at the grassroots by villagers unconvinced of the need to preserve the country’s dwindling wildlife. Second, steady encroachment of animal habitats is resulting in migration out of sanctuaries, enhancing the chances of more frequent confrontations between villagers and animals in desperate search of food. Even more than encroachment, the disappearance of animal corridors in Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, the construction or expansion of highways running through Reserved Forests and the grant of mining leases in protected forest areas has led to the sharpening of the problem.
The tiger is to India’s conservation efforts what cricket is to sport. While Government and private efforts at tiger conservation have heightened consciousness about the majestic creature, the bulk of attention and finances are routed to projects related to it. No doubt, the effort is most laudable and let us hope that the next tiger census (currently underway), conducted by the more scientific camera trap method, will show a rise in numbers beyond the paltry 1,141 that the last headcount revealed. Organisations like NDTV, sponsors like Aircel and others must be complimented for the recent daylong Telethon in which I was honoured to be a participant. So, it is certainly not my case that the tiger is receiving undue attention or funds.
However, I believe that the tiger cannot be protected without a holistic policy towards environment and wildlife. For example, if streams in the jungle dry up because of rampant extraction of groundwater and bottling plants being set up at source, the tigers’ prey too cannot survive. If deer are forced to migrate out of forests or die of thirst, tigers and other predators like leopards would be compelled to move towards human habitations in search of food and water. If forest cover declines or degenerates, wildlife would find less and less greens to forage and over time their reproductive capacity too would be adversely affected. An ecological balance involving forest cover, water sources, prey base for big cats is essential for wildlife to prosper. It is not possible to ensure a significant rise in tiger numbers merely by pumping in funds or relocating some to reserves from which they were eliminated through poaching or inhospitable environs.
Leopards and elephants are at a huge risk in India because of human incursions close to their traditional habitats. The leopard, being a smaller cat compared to the tiger is endangered by the steady decline in its prey base in the jungles. Besides, by nature they live on the outskirts of forests rather than the deep interiors. On the periphery of Mumbai, for instance, leopard sightings were fairly common till recently, just as the Aravali highlands close to Delhi-Gurgaon was the leopards’ terrain not before long. As townships and industrial complexes are built in these areas with mounting speed, the leopard is seriously threatened and compelled to abandon protective jungle cover to hunt for food. The accident last year in which two young leopards were run over by a speeding vehicle on the Delhi-Jaipur Highway (NH 8) is a telling example of the leopards’ predicament.
Unfortunately, there is no quick-fix solution to this, except a long-term policy regarding the peripheries of reserved forests or shrub lands in the Aravalis that are the leopards’ natural habitat. How much encroachment can be allowed to builders of housing colonies, shopping malls and entertainment parks in the neighbourhood of our burgeoning metros? As far as I know, the frenetic expansion of human settlement around Gurgaon, which began in the 1990s, never had any form of environmental clearance whatsoever. Instead of maximising habitation within existing colonies, builders are in the business of promoting golf courses, artificial lakes, sprawling villas and other attractive features to draw high-end buyers to housing and farmhouse complexes being built on lands that were once traversed by a variety of wildlife.
The abuse of areas peripheral to National Parks is so rampant that it hardly bears recalling. With over 700 resorts in operation just outside the perimeter of Corbett National Park, the discomfort caused to and consequent dislocation of wildlife has assumed serious dimensions. While I feel Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh’s heart is in the right place, he has failed miserably to curb human intrusion into tiger reserves. Has anybody thought of the disturbance caused to wildlife by the relentless foray of tourists on jeep safaris in Ranthambhore? As it is, the park is overcrowded, but unchecked movement of people inside the sanctuary must be among the reasons that forced tigress T 13 with her two hungry eight-month-old cubs to venture out of the park, risking death by poisoning or starvation.
Arguably, decades of neglect and unconcern cannot be reversed overnight. But in the absence of holistic thinking the tiger, leopard, elephant, deer and even marine and avian species will become critically endangered in the next few years. So, the cheetah can wait while something concrete is done on a war footing to save our existing, diverse wildlife
Last Tuesday it was Gurgaon. On Wednesday, it happened on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. On Thursday, it was near Guwahati. By the time January is out, the toll can only be anticipated to multiply. On an average three to four leopards are mercilessly beaten to death every week by bloodthirsty villagers. Some die in accidents such as the cub that got run over by a train in Assam. But mostly the big cats are mauled to death by gruesome methods. Having encircled and trapped the terrified creature that may have strayed into human habitation in search of food, villagers pelt them with stones; beat them with iron rods and in a few instances are known to have even gouged their eyes out in an orgy of bestiality.
Eyewitnesses say that a carnival atmosphere prevails while the hapless cat cries out in pain. People congregate with drums as if to celebrate victory in battle. Cunningly, the carcass is dragged outside village precincts, sprayed with kerosene and set alight to remove traces of the crime. By the time forest officials or the police arrive, if at all they do, the deed is done. If confronted, belligerent villagers dare the officers to act. Outnumbered, enforcers of the law beat a hasty retreat and file a report blaming unknown persons for the murder. Few are prosecuted; leave alone punished.
In recent years the supposed man-animal conflict has become a one-sided affair with a variety of wild creatures being regularly bludgeoned to death. A recent report said that enraged by the alleged depredations of a herd of elephants, villagers managed to catch hold of a two-year-old calf that got left behind and beat it to death the same way as they often do with leopards. Fearful of the tiger, people don’t venture to kill them in frontal combat, but have increasingly started to use poison with which they lace a bait and wait for the unwary beast to consume it to die a slow, painful death. This has been reported particularly from Rajasthan and eastern Uttar Pradesh where incidents of tigers straying from sanctuaries have risen markedly.
There are two worrisome facets to these developments. First, the Government’s much-hyped conservation efforts are being defeated at the grassroots by villagers unconvinced of the need to preserve the country’s dwindling wildlife. Second, steady encroachment of animal habitats is resulting in migration out of sanctuaries, enhancing the chances of more frequent confrontations between villagers and animals in desperate search of food. Even more than encroachment, the disappearance of animal corridors in Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, the construction or expansion of highways running through Reserved Forests and the grant of mining leases in protected forest areas has led to the sharpening of the problem.
The tiger is to India’s conservation efforts what cricket is to sport. While Government and private efforts at tiger conservation have heightened consciousness about the majestic creature, the bulk of attention and finances are routed to projects related to it. No doubt, the effort is most laudable and let us hope that the next tiger census (currently underway), conducted by the more scientific camera trap method, will show a rise in numbers beyond the paltry 1,141 that the last headcount revealed. Organisations like NDTV, sponsors like Aircel and others must be complimented for the recent daylong Telethon in which I was honoured to be a participant. So, it is certainly not my case that the tiger is receiving undue attention or funds.
However, I believe that the tiger cannot be protected without a holistic policy towards environment and wildlife. For example, if streams in the jungle dry up because of rampant extraction of groundwater and bottling plants being set up at source, the tigers’ prey too cannot survive. If deer are forced to migrate out of forests or die of thirst, tigers and other predators like leopards would be compelled to move towards human habitations in search of food and water. If forest cover declines or degenerates, wildlife would find less and less greens to forage and over time their reproductive capacity too would be adversely affected. An ecological balance involving forest cover, water sources, prey base for big cats is essential for wildlife to prosper. It is not possible to ensure a significant rise in tiger numbers merely by pumping in funds or relocating some to reserves from which they were eliminated through poaching or inhospitable environs.
Leopards and elephants are at a huge risk in India because of human incursions close to their traditional habitats. The leopard, being a smaller cat compared to the tiger is endangered by the steady decline in its prey base in the jungles. Besides, by nature they live on the outskirts of forests rather than the deep interiors. On the periphery of Mumbai, for instance, leopard sightings were fairly common till recently, just as the Aravali highlands close to Delhi-Gurgaon was the leopards’ terrain not before long. As townships and industrial complexes are built in these areas with mounting speed, the leopard is seriously threatened and compelled to abandon protective jungle cover to hunt for food. The accident last year in which two young leopards were run over by a speeding vehicle on the Delhi-Jaipur Highway (NH 8) is a telling example of the leopards’ predicament.
Unfortunately, there is no quick-fix solution to this, except a long-term policy regarding the peripheries of reserved forests or shrub lands in the Aravalis that are the leopards’ natural habitat. How much encroachment can be allowed to builders of housing colonies, shopping malls and entertainment parks in the neighbourhood of our burgeoning metros? As far as I know, the frenetic expansion of human settlement around Gurgaon, which began in the 1990s, never had any form of environmental clearance whatsoever. Instead of maximising habitation within existing colonies, builders are in the business of promoting golf courses, artificial lakes, sprawling villas and other attractive features to draw high-end buyers to housing and farmhouse complexes being built on lands that were once traversed by a variety of wildlife.
The abuse of areas peripheral to National Parks is so rampant that it hardly bears recalling. With over 700 resorts in operation just outside the perimeter of Corbett National Park, the discomfort caused to and consequent dislocation of wildlife has assumed serious dimensions. While I feel Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh’s heart is in the right place, he has failed miserably to curb human intrusion into tiger reserves. Has anybody thought of the disturbance caused to wildlife by the relentless foray of tourists on jeep safaris in Ranthambhore? As it is, the park is overcrowded, but unchecked movement of people inside the sanctuary must be among the reasons that forced tigress T 13 with her two hungry eight-month-old cubs to venture out of the park, risking death by poisoning or starvation.
Arguably, decades of neglect and unconcern cannot be reversed overnight. But in the absence of holistic thinking the tiger, leopard, elephant, deer and even marine and avian species will become critically endangered in the next few years. So, the cheetah can wait while something concrete is done on a war footing to save our existing, diverse wildlife
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)