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Will the State's tigers take the Ranthambore route?
Thursday March 3 2005 00:00 IST
BANGALORE: It was the mystery of the missing tigers in Rajasthan's world renowned Sariska and Ranthambore sanctuaries that set the alarm bells ringing. And the ripple effect has reached Karnataka raising queries about the safety of tigers in the State's numerous reserves.

Unlike Sariska where they are largely elusive, tigers can actually be seen in the State's sanctuaries. But this is no reason for complacency as police have been hot on the tiger poaching and illegal wildlife trading trail in various parts of the State.

As recently as Feb 21, the police in Kushalnagar arrested two persons and recovered a tiger skin which they were trying to sell in the Tibetan Colony at Bailkuppa. And this is no isolated case: several such seizures have been reported earlier also from Coorg and Bangalore. Ironically, the Forest Department, the so-called custodian of these animals, usually become aware of these cases only through media reports.

But what is sure to give wildlife lovers the jitters is the advent of a gang of poachers belonging to Katni, Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, whose expertise in the `jaw trapping' of tigers spells doom for the big cat. What's worse is that the gang is part of the international tiger trade and so has plenty of monetary incentive to commit such crimes. The first incident came to light in 2002 in the Nagarahole reserve when forest officials rescued a jaw trapped tiger and arrested 47 members belonging to the gang. The second incident was in the Bandipur park in 2004, where at least eight gang members were arrested.

Conservator of Forests (WL) Anur Reddy says the Forest Department can only stand by and watch as their jurisdiction does not extend to these areas and so they cannot investigate the cases. ``We can only visit these locations and for all practical purposes, we have to depend on the police,'' he says.

``But, there's a silver lining: Project Tiger has decided to set up a Central investigation agency to hunt down inter-state poaching gangs and tackle the problem. As of now our hands are tied. Once such an agency is set up, we can hope to get help,'' he says.

But poaching is only one problem tigers face: Man-animal conflict and the construction of highways inside protected areas are also big challenges.

The casualty list makes for sad reading: At least four tigers which strayed into coffee estates in Coorg and Chikmagalur were killed over the last five years. Another two tigers, which usually roamed the Nugu area, adjoining Bandipur, have simply vanished without a trace, possibly falling prey to the perils of excessive human intervention. Additionally, an adult tiger was run over by a speeding lorry in the Bandipur reserve on the Gundlupet-Sultanbateri highway.

When such incidents come into the public domain via the media, the Forest Department wakes up and swings into action. But no concrete, long-term steps have been taken to address these problems.

Posted with no one in particular in mind.