Wildlife protection gets a boost in Nagarahole, Bandipur parks

The Hindu , Thursday, July 19, 2007
Correspondent : Shankar Bennur
MYSORE: The decision to close the Nagarahole and Bandipur national parks for visitors for a whole month — from July 1 to 31— seems to have benefited the managements of the two parks in working out new strategies for wildlife management and implementing them with thorough focus.

It is the first time the two parks have been closed for visitors during monsoon. Usually, they remain closed in April when the threat of forest fire looms large.

Although the park authorities maintain that the decision to close the parks was taken to prevent disturbance to wild animals who would be engaged in breeding during the season, sources in the parks told The Hindu that the park offic ials wanted free time to interact with field staff and work out mechanisms for improving vigilance in park areas.

“Normally, forest officials get calls from those in the seat of power and the bureaucrats for making arrangements for their stay in the parks. Now that the parks are closed for a brief period, we are getting time to visit the sensitive zones, park borders and also the villages around the parks to ensure safety and proper protection of wild animals,” the sources said.

The Nagarahole park, which records heavy rain, plunges into darkness because of power disruption. Uprooting of trees on roads owing to rain would make the task more difficult for the staff. The park has recorded heavy showers since June, which resulted in the uprooting of a number of trees on the main roads of the park and on safari routes.

“We used to have a tough time in convincing visitors especially during the peak of monsoon, when the park faces such problems. We face hardships in providing facilities such as wildlife safari since the approach roads will be inaccessible because of uprooting of trees. Even if visitors are allowed, they cannot venture into the forest because of heavy rain. The decision has been good,” official sources at Nagarahole said.

According to the sources, the deputy conservators of forests of these parks have discretionary powers to take decision to close the parks for a temporary period in the interest of wildlife and its management.

“The closure has helped the park managers to focus on wildlife management and locate areas vulnerable to poaching. The strategies are being focussed on sensitive locations in the park, borders and the villages on the periphery of the forests,” they said.

Although anti-poaching operations are routine and looked after by the regular staff, they are getting fillip with extra attention and focus from the patrolling staff.

In fact, the movement of vehicles on PWD Road, which connects Kutta on Karnataka-Kerala Road, and frequent shouting by visitors while passing through the stretch were causing disturbance to the wild animals.

“Since it is breeding season, we thought of giving the animals a noise-free atmosphere and privacy by closing the park for the visitors,” said an official of Nagarahole, on condition of anonymity

 
SOURCE : The Hindu,Thursday, 19 July 2007
 


Back to pevious page



The NetworkAbout Us  |  Our Partners  |  Concepts   
Resources :  Databases  |  Publications  |  Media Guide  |  Suggested Links
Happenings :  News  |  Events  |  Opinion Polls  |  Case Studies
Contact :  Guest Book  |  FAQs |  Email Us