JAIPUR: While there is reason enough for the forest department to rejoice the increasing tiger population in the state, its inaction over bringing back big cats that have strayed out of the forest has irked conservationists. The rebuff comes in the wake of little efforts from the department in bringing back a five-year-old tigress that had strayed to Kota from the Ranthambore tiger reserve.
"That it's a tigress is a reason to worry. While it may be common for sub-adult males to stray into areas outside the park but this big cat is a female that can become a mother. Therefore it is not just a question of one tigress but also the litter of cubs she produces," a conservationist said. In January 2010, the tigress had moved out of the Ranthambore tiger reserve. A team of officials had been hot on its trail in January. But with the tiger settling down in the ravines of the Kalisind river on the border of Kota and Baran districts, there has been little effort in bringing it back.
Sub-adults, especially males stray out of the forest in search of a territory. They generally return but this tigress hasn't.
It may be natural for tigers to stray out but there is a fear of poaching, too.
"The Kota tigress is a potential mother and could have added to the baby boom that the park has seen this year," he added. The Ranthambore national park after a dry year when no cubs were born, this year had 17 cubs taking the estimated population of the big cat in the park to about 50. A census is on at the park.
There are at least five tigers that have been missing from the park and three tigers have migrated to other areas. The missing tigers are T-21 or the Chiroli male, T-27 or the Gilai Sagar female, T-29 of Berda, T-40 or the Berda male and T-43 the second Jhailkho male cub. And the strayed ones are T-35 a tigress which is in Kota, T-38 or the Sultanpur male that has migrated to Kuno in Madhya Pradesh while T-47 has made Dholpur its home.
Officials of the department while accepting that not much effort was being made in this regard, assured that the tigress was fine. "The tigress is being monitored and she is okay," the officials said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Kota-tigress-Tardy-relocation-bid-irks-conservationists/articleshow/9020952.cms
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Sariska’s future tense
CONSERVATION
Sariska’s future tense
The Sariska National Park is facing a bleak future. Based on prey base and habitat, Sariska can easily accommodate more than 40 tigers. Plans are now on to relocate more tigers to Sariska, but tiger lovers are hoping that the government realises that given the dwindling tiger population in the country, this is not the best time to experiment. In the present conditions, tigers are still not safe, observes Navnith Krishnan
Aflurry of alarm calls reverberating through the valley alerted us. The setting sun gave it an eerie background. Sambhars started giving vent to their unmistakable dhunks.
Peacocks took to the trees with their hoarse cries. Higher up on the trees, langurs were ducking their heads up and down, and warning others with their sounds.
All indicated the presence of a predator on the move. The Aravalli Ranges stood like a mute spectator to this daily drama. We were in the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan.
The tiger monitoring group had told us about the presence of the female tiger ST2 and the male ST4 in that area.
These are among the many tigers relocated here from Ranthambhore. We strained our necks looking for the elusive cat. Time stood still. Our driver, Jagdish, was the first to spot the tigress as she majestically strode on to the road, hardly 30 feet from us. She was ST2. She just looked back at us and walked straight to the water hole.
Nestled in one of the oldest mountain ranges, Aravallis, Sariska National Park, with a total area of more than 800 sq km, is a repository of serene dense forest, wide valleys and sprawling plateaus. With a natural grandeur, it was once the hunting preserve of the Maharajas of Alwar where British royalty, viceroys and dignitaries vied with each other in shooting tigers. All shootings were banned in 1955 when Sariska was declared a wildlife reserve. In 1978, it was declared a tiger reserve and in 1982, a national park.
Vanishing tigers
It was just five years back that Sariska hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The state wildlife department was merrily giving out tiger figures every year, and when an intrepid journalist came out with the revelation that there are no tigers left in the Sariska Tiger Reserve, it attracted worldwide attention.
A subsequent CBI enquiry ordered by the Prime Minister and an investigation by the Wildlife Institute of India confirmed the stark truth. How Sariska, with its valleys, forests, water holes, an enormous prey base and a habitat better than even Ranthambhore, lost its tigers is a long story. It was a case of ineptitude, inadequacy and shameful neglect.
To quote the Tiger Task Force, “While officials were busy misreporting the record of tiger numbers, poachers roamed about and cleaned the reserve out.”
Community-related issues
The one and only problem faced by Sariska is the hostile attitude of the villagers — 28 of their hamlets are strewn around the sanctuary; some even inside the core area. These villagers have stuck around the forest area’s main water holes, rearing their cattle. All efforts to relocate them have come to naught.
Closeness to cities like Alwar and easy transportation have made milk trade a roaring business. Added to this is the rearing of goats for meat. The villagers, mostly cattle grazers, have nothing to spend on feeding since these cattle and goats are driven into the sanctuary every day and occasionally tigers get attracted to it.
The government’s compensation of Rs 3,000 for every cattle killed by tigers, villagers say, is grossly inadequate compared to the actual value of more than Rs 20,000. They stick on to these villages in spite of all these disadvantages and carry out revenge killings and poaching. They also join together and scuttle any probe into the killing. For them, it is more profitable.
The bonanza of Rs 10 lakh per family offered as compensation for relocation has no effect on them. Adding to the woes of the villagers and the government is the activism of the so-called human rights NGOs, who advise villagers not to shift unless the compensation is raised to Rs 25 lakh. It is no surprise that out of 28 villages, only one village, Badhani, the smallest of them all, has been relocated completely since the process began.
Relocation from Ranthambore
In their efforts to save the tiger, the government carried out an ambitious programme — to relocate some tigers to Sariska from Ranthambhore. Five tigers, tagged ST1 to ST5, were released into the park in 2008. Skeptics were proved right when the male TS1 was poisoned on November 14, 2010 by villagers as a revenge killing. The government received much flak for this and the field director was shifted.
They have now posted R S Shekhawat as the field director, one of the ablest in the state. One more tiger has been now been relocated from Ranthambhore and has been tagged as ST6. All the tigers are radio collared, are tracked and logged in separate jeeps, round the clock, at high costs.
With hostile villagers located all around the park, forest officers are on tenter hooks. How long can they monitor tigers like this? In Rajesh Gopal, we have a dedicated and hard working Project Tiger Chief, but unless the state government takes more interest and gets these villagers shifted from the park, the future of relocated tigers in Sariska is bleak.
Based on prey base and habitat, Sariska can easily accommodate more than 40 tigers. Plans are now on to relocate more tigers to Sariska. But tiger lovers are hoping that the government realises that given the dwindling tiger population in the country, this is not the best time to experiment, for in the present conditions, tigers are still not safe.
Sariska still offers a bonanza for tourists and nature lovers. The sanctuary is teeming with wildlife. There are more than 7,000 sambhars, an equal number of nilgais, chital, wild boars, striped hyenas, caracals and leopards to quote a few.
It is also blessed with rich avifaunal diversity encompassing more than 211 species of domestic and migratory birds. It also houses 404 plant species. It is of interest to note that 50,000 visitors have visited this park last year alone.
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/171934/sariskas-future-tense.html
Sariska’s future tense
The Sariska National Park is facing a bleak future. Based on prey base and habitat, Sariska can easily accommodate more than 40 tigers. Plans are now on to relocate more tigers to Sariska, but tiger lovers are hoping that the government realises that given the dwindling tiger population in the country, this is not the best time to experiment. In the present conditions, tigers are still not safe, observes Navnith Krishnan
Aflurry of alarm calls reverberating through the valley alerted us. The setting sun gave it an eerie background. Sambhars started giving vent to their unmistakable dhunks.
Peacocks took to the trees with their hoarse cries. Higher up on the trees, langurs were ducking their heads up and down, and warning others with their sounds.
All indicated the presence of a predator on the move. The Aravalli Ranges stood like a mute spectator to this daily drama. We were in the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan.
The tiger monitoring group had told us about the presence of the female tiger ST2 and the male ST4 in that area.
These are among the many tigers relocated here from Ranthambhore. We strained our necks looking for the elusive cat. Time stood still. Our driver, Jagdish, was the first to spot the tigress as she majestically strode on to the road, hardly 30 feet from us. She was ST2. She just looked back at us and walked straight to the water hole.
Nestled in one of the oldest mountain ranges, Aravallis, Sariska National Park, with a total area of more than 800 sq km, is a repository of serene dense forest, wide valleys and sprawling plateaus. With a natural grandeur, it was once the hunting preserve of the Maharajas of Alwar where British royalty, viceroys and dignitaries vied with each other in shooting tigers. All shootings were banned in 1955 when Sariska was declared a wildlife reserve. In 1978, it was declared a tiger reserve and in 1982, a national park.
Vanishing tigers
It was just five years back that Sariska hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The state wildlife department was merrily giving out tiger figures every year, and when an intrepid journalist came out with the revelation that there are no tigers left in the Sariska Tiger Reserve, it attracted worldwide attention.
A subsequent CBI enquiry ordered by the Prime Minister and an investigation by the Wildlife Institute of India confirmed the stark truth. How Sariska, with its valleys, forests, water holes, an enormous prey base and a habitat better than even Ranthambhore, lost its tigers is a long story. It was a case of ineptitude, inadequacy and shameful neglect.
To quote the Tiger Task Force, “While officials were busy misreporting the record of tiger numbers, poachers roamed about and cleaned the reserve out.”
Community-related issues
The one and only problem faced by Sariska is the hostile attitude of the villagers — 28 of their hamlets are strewn around the sanctuary; some even inside the core area. These villagers have stuck around the forest area’s main water holes, rearing their cattle. All efforts to relocate them have come to naught.
Closeness to cities like Alwar and easy transportation have made milk trade a roaring business. Added to this is the rearing of goats for meat. The villagers, mostly cattle grazers, have nothing to spend on feeding since these cattle and goats are driven into the sanctuary every day and occasionally tigers get attracted to it.
The government’s compensation of Rs 3,000 for every cattle killed by tigers, villagers say, is grossly inadequate compared to the actual value of more than Rs 20,000. They stick on to these villages in spite of all these disadvantages and carry out revenge killings and poaching. They also join together and scuttle any probe into the killing. For them, it is more profitable.
The bonanza of Rs 10 lakh per family offered as compensation for relocation has no effect on them. Adding to the woes of the villagers and the government is the activism of the so-called human rights NGOs, who advise villagers not to shift unless the compensation is raised to Rs 25 lakh. It is no surprise that out of 28 villages, only one village, Badhani, the smallest of them all, has been relocated completely since the process began.
Relocation from Ranthambore
In their efforts to save the tiger, the government carried out an ambitious programme — to relocate some tigers to Sariska from Ranthambhore. Five tigers, tagged ST1 to ST5, were released into the park in 2008. Skeptics were proved right when the male TS1 was poisoned on November 14, 2010 by villagers as a revenge killing. The government received much flak for this and the field director was shifted.
They have now posted R S Shekhawat as the field director, one of the ablest in the state. One more tiger has been now been relocated from Ranthambhore and has been tagged as ST6. All the tigers are radio collared, are tracked and logged in separate jeeps, round the clock, at high costs.
With hostile villagers located all around the park, forest officers are on tenter hooks. How long can they monitor tigers like this? In Rajesh Gopal, we have a dedicated and hard working Project Tiger Chief, but unless the state government takes more interest and gets these villagers shifted from the park, the future of relocated tigers in Sariska is bleak.
Based on prey base and habitat, Sariska can easily accommodate more than 40 tigers. Plans are now on to relocate more tigers to Sariska. But tiger lovers are hoping that the government realises that given the dwindling tiger population in the country, this is not the best time to experiment, for in the present conditions, tigers are still not safe.
Sariska still offers a bonanza for tourists and nature lovers. The sanctuary is teeming with wildlife. There are more than 7,000 sambhars, an equal number of nilgais, chital, wild boars, striped hyenas, caracals and leopards to quote a few.
It is also blessed with rich avifaunal diversity encompassing more than 211 species of domestic and migratory birds. It also houses 404 plant species. It is of interest to note that 50,000 visitors have visited this park last year alone.
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/171934/sariskas-future-tense.html
Pench's bid to win locals' trust -TNN
NAGPUR: The Pench national park and tiger reserve has geared up to win trust of stakeholders in a bid to boost forest and tiger conservation.
On Sunday, the park management and a group of doctors named 'Doctors of Wildlife' organized a health check-up camp at Sillari for nine villages in the periphery of the reserve. Conservator of forest and Pench field director A Ashraf informed that 264 villagers were benefited from the camp. Free medicines were also distributed to the villagers.
"It was a small effort but could go a long way in tiger and forest protection. There are 40 villages in Pench buffer and similar camps will be organized post-monsoon for other villages," said Ashraf.
The camp was inaugurated by AK Saxena, additional principal chief conservator of forests (APCCF) for wildlife, East. Dr Ravi Waikar and Dr Anil Pimplapure were also present.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/developmental-issues/Penchs-bid-to-win-locals-trust/articleshow/9019608.cms
On Sunday, the park management and a group of doctors named 'Doctors of Wildlife' organized a health check-up camp at Sillari for nine villages in the periphery of the reserve. Conservator of forest and Pench field director A Ashraf informed that 264 villagers were benefited from the camp. Free medicines were also distributed to the villagers.
"It was a small effort but could go a long way in tiger and forest protection. There are 40 villages in Pench buffer and similar camps will be organized post-monsoon for other villages," said Ashraf.
The camp was inaugurated by AK Saxena, additional principal chief conservator of forests (APCCF) for wildlife, East. Dr Ravi Waikar and Dr Anil Pimplapure were also present.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/developmental-issues/Penchs-bid-to-win-locals-trust/articleshow/9019608.cms
Simlipal launches foundation to boost tiger conservation - AMARENDRA BOSE,TNN
BARIPADA: The Simlipal Tiger Reserve (STR), on the lines of the Corbett, Ranthambhore and Bandipur tiger reserves, has launched the Simlipal Tiger Conservation Foundation (STCF) in a bid to give a boost to tiger conservation and define a niche for the rare animal in the reserve, HS Upadhaya, STR field director said.
The foundation shall be an autonomous body that will facilitate and support tiger conservation and protect the biodiversity of its habitat in Simlipal. It will also take initiatives in eco-development with the active involvement of forest fringe dwellers in the development process, Upadhaya added.
The STCF has been registered under the Registration of Societies Act, 1860 and was approved by the additional registrar of societies on Wednesday. It shall have operational jurisdiction over the STR, which encompasses a total area of 2,750 sq km, and its adjoining landscape with possible corridor value for dispersal of wild animals from the tiger reserve, sources at STR said.
The foundation will use funds from income generated by levying entry fee on tourists besides contributions from other sources in terms of specific projects from national as well as international agencies as permitted by law. It will also use grants received from internal agencies, grants-in-aid, donations or assistance of any kind from any individual or organization, including foreign governments and other external agencies as permitted by law, sources added.
The governing body of the foundation has been constituted with the state's forest and environment minister, Debi Prasad Mishra, as president, the principal secretary of forests and environment, Aurobindo Behera, as vice-president, and the principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) who is also the CWLW (chief wildlife warden), Orissa as member-secretary.
Other members of the governing body include the principal chief conservator of forests (general) Orissa, the field director and deputy director of the STR, two prominent scientists or experts in the field to be nominated by the government, the Jashipur (Mayurbhanj) MLA and the chairperson of zilla parishad, Mayurbhanj and two members of the executive committee of the foundation.
Tigers, elephants, bisons and the unique four-horned chowsinghas are among the larger denizens of Simlipal, while the toothless long-tongued scaly ant-eater, the pangolin, is among the smaller ones. The black Royal Bengal Tiger is yet another important attraction for the visitors as well as researchers visiting the reserve, sources said.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/environment/developmental-issues/simlipal-launches-foundation-to-boost-tiger-conservation/articleshow/9017280.cms
The foundation shall be an autonomous body that will facilitate and support tiger conservation and protect the biodiversity of its habitat in Simlipal. It will also take initiatives in eco-development with the active involvement of forest fringe dwellers in the development process, Upadhaya added.
The STCF has been registered under the Registration of Societies Act, 1860 and was approved by the additional registrar of societies on Wednesday. It shall have operational jurisdiction over the STR, which encompasses a total area of 2,750 sq km, and its adjoining landscape with possible corridor value for dispersal of wild animals from the tiger reserve, sources at STR said.
The foundation will use funds from income generated by levying entry fee on tourists besides contributions from other sources in terms of specific projects from national as well as international agencies as permitted by law. It will also use grants received from internal agencies, grants-in-aid, donations or assistance of any kind from any individual or organization, including foreign governments and other external agencies as permitted by law, sources added.
The governing body of the foundation has been constituted with the state's forest and environment minister, Debi Prasad Mishra, as president, the principal secretary of forests and environment, Aurobindo Behera, as vice-president, and the principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) who is also the CWLW (chief wildlife warden), Orissa as member-secretary.
Other members of the governing body include the principal chief conservator of forests (general) Orissa, the field director and deputy director of the STR, two prominent scientists or experts in the field to be nominated by the government, the Jashipur (Mayurbhanj) MLA and the chairperson of zilla parishad, Mayurbhanj and two members of the executive committee of the foundation.
Tigers, elephants, bisons and the unique four-horned chowsinghas are among the larger denizens of Simlipal, while the toothless long-tongued scaly ant-eater, the pangolin, is among the smaller ones. The black Royal Bengal Tiger is yet another important attraction for the visitors as well as researchers visiting the reserve, sources said.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/environment/developmental-issues/simlipal-launches-foundation-to-boost-tiger-conservation/articleshow/9017280.cms
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