JAIPUR: A forest guard at the Ranthambore National Park was admitted to a local hospital after a tiger pounced upon him on Tuesday. The guard is said to be out of danger.
According to a forest department official, "Around two days ago, a tiger had killed a buffalo owned by a local on the eastern fringes of the park near the Banas river. On Tuesday, cattle guard Roop Chand Meena visited the area to check the animal's carcass before processing claims for the compensation to be paid to the owner."
However, Meena ventured too close to the kill, unaware that the tiger was still present in the area. "The tiger attacked the villager out of fear. The guard sustained injuries on his leg, but is out of danger," said chief wildlife warden H M Bhatia.
"The guard has received at least 20 stitches on four or five different areas of his leg, but is out of danger. Camera traps have been put in the area to ascertain which tiger was involved in the attack though it is suspected that it could be the male tiger T-6," a source said.
The Ranthambore National Park has recently witnessed frequent attacks on human beings by the big cats. On February 6, one Ghanshyam Bairwa was attacked by a tiger while he was working in his field in the Mukundpura village. The tiger emerged from the nearby mustard crops, attacked Bairwa and fled. Bairwa fell unconscious and was taken to a hospital only after he raised an alarm when he regained consciousness.
The last big attack was on assistant conservator of forests Daulat Singh Shaktawat, who had to undergo a major surgery. Shaktawat is now back to work.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Death of tiger: Forest dept officials deny foul play TNN
MYSORE: Forest department officials denied any foul play in the death of a tiger, the carcass of which was recovered from Sollepura forest range in Heggadadevanakote taluk on Monday.
An official press release said it could be a natural death. However, a doctors' team conducted the post-mortem. Senior forest officials PCCF (wildlife) B K Singh and CCF (wildlife) B J Hosmath visited the spot. The highly decomposed body of the tiger was found in the Sollepura forest range of Nagarhole National Park on Monday afternoon.
An official press release said it could be a natural death. However, a doctors' team conducted the post-mortem. Senior forest officials PCCF (wildlife) B K Singh and CCF (wildlife) B J Hosmath visited the spot. The highly decomposed body of the tiger was found in the Sollepura forest range of Nagarhole National Park on Monday afternoon.
Wildlife experts concerned over recent tiger deaths in Rajasthan
: Wildlife experts have expressed concern over the increasing number of tiger deaths in Ranthambore and Sariska tiger sanctuaries in Rajasthan.
Manish Saxena, a wildlife expert, on Tuesday said fighting, poisoning by villagers and poaching are the main reasons for the recent deaths of the tigers.
He added that the forest area is too small, which is why the tigers engage in fights, leading to casualties and deaths.
"Four tigers have been killed due to fight amongst themselves in which they got injured and died. Other four tigers including two cubs were killed due to poisoning. The villagers mixed poison in their food to avenge the killing of their pets by the tigers. This was the reason behind the deaths", said Saxena.
Meanwhile, R.S, Bhandari, a wildlife analyst, said that to control the situation more vigilance on the part of the forest department is required.
"More vigilance is required as the forest is so big and when a theft can happen in a city then why not in forest. However, near Sariska, poaching is quite impossible. As far as poisoning is concerned, it can be controlled by making the nearby villagers aware and keeping a check in the areas where a tiger has been killed," he added.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has an interim relief programme, wherein villagers are paid Rs. 3,000 or less for every cow killed by a tiger or leopard. This plan has helped in reducing tiger mortality.
According to reports, almost eight tigers including cubs have been killed in Ranthambore and Sariska sanctuaries in the last four years.(ANI)
Manish Saxena, a wildlife expert, on Tuesday said fighting, poisoning by villagers and poaching are the main reasons for the recent deaths of the tigers.
He added that the forest area is too small, which is why the tigers engage in fights, leading to casualties and deaths.
"Four tigers have been killed due to fight amongst themselves in which they got injured and died. Other four tigers including two cubs were killed due to poisoning. The villagers mixed poison in their food to avenge the killing of their pets by the tigers. This was the reason behind the deaths", said Saxena.
Meanwhile, R.S, Bhandari, a wildlife analyst, said that to control the situation more vigilance on the part of the forest department is required.
"More vigilance is required as the forest is so big and when a theft can happen in a city then why not in forest. However, near Sariska, poaching is quite impossible. As far as poisoning is concerned, it can be controlled by making the nearby villagers aware and keeping a check in the areas where a tiger has been killed," he added.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has an interim relief programme, wherein villagers are paid Rs. 3,000 or less for every cow killed by a tiger or leopard. This plan has helped in reducing tiger mortality.
According to reports, almost eight tigers including cubs have been killed in Ranthambore and Sariska sanctuaries in the last four years.(ANI)
And, expert’s reason for dipping tiger count: vanishing prey
“There are less than 3,500 tigers remaining in the world,” says K Ullas Karanth, with a curiously positive twang,” but the world has the potential to house around 45,000 tigers.”
Karanth, a senior conservation scientist at the NewYork-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and director, WCS India Program, Bangalore, was speaking at the 5th Kirloskar Vasundhara International Film festival in the city on Tuesday.
The optimism in his voice came as a surprise at a time when discussions revolving the big cat are full of dismal figures and shoddy affairs. "I think if we work in the right direction from now, we can effectively save this species," says Karanth, who has worked in the interiors of states like Karnataka and Maharashtra.
"The save tiger story, is not about individual incidents that are so glorified today. We shout on television sets, write critically about how a tiger died, but we collectively don't think of the larger picture," said Karanth. So what exactly is the big picture? "Conservation, is not like business. There is no closure here. A tigress replaces herself 15 times in her lifetime. Meaning to say that mortality and reproductive cycles of tigers are quite fast. I don't mean to say that poaching should not be our concern. But our concerns should rise from individual stories. The biggest threat to tigers in India is depletion of their chief prey like deer, wild pigs and wild cattle. As a result, although around 300,000 square kilometres of tiger habitat still remains, much of it is empty of tigers since there is not enough food for them to survive and breed successfully."
Karanth, a senior conservation scientist at the NewYork-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and director, WCS India Program, Bangalore, was speaking at the 5th Kirloskar Vasundhara International Film festival in the city on Tuesday.
The optimism in his voice came as a surprise at a time when discussions revolving the big cat are full of dismal figures and shoddy affairs. "I think if we work in the right direction from now, we can effectively save this species," says Karanth, who has worked in the interiors of states like Karnataka and Maharashtra.
"The save tiger story, is not about individual incidents that are so glorified today. We shout on television sets, write critically about how a tiger died, but we collectively don't think of the larger picture," said Karanth. So what exactly is the big picture? "Conservation, is not like business. There is no closure here. A tigress replaces herself 15 times in her lifetime. Meaning to say that mortality and reproductive cycles of tigers are quite fast. I don't mean to say that poaching should not be our concern. But our concerns should rise from individual stories. The biggest threat to tigers in India is depletion of their chief prey like deer, wild pigs and wild cattle. As a result, although around 300,000 square kilometres of tiger habitat still remains, much of it is empty of tigers since there is not enough food for them to survive and breed successfully."
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