JAIPUR: The Ranthambore National Park, of late, is in news for all the wrong reasons. The man-animal conflict is gathering pace with either the tiger moving out of the reserve or man entering prohibited area. In fact, after recent incidents of tiger attacks on villagers or their cattle, people living near the reserve have visibly turned aggressive against wild animals. The same villagers were once considered as a shield to animals against possible threat from poachers.

If a few incidents saw the tiger attacking the man in his territory, in two cases, the villagers reacted strongly by killing tiger cubs or pelted stones with a vengeance at a tiger which strayed into the village in Bhuripahadi.

Many feel that things are grossly wrong in the national park. The manner in which the forest officials dealt with this grave situation is questionable. In the latest incident in which a forest ranger was injured, the crowd management at the site of tranquilization was abysmal which was one of the main reasons for the tiger being so agitated. It had been surrounded by the villagers and there was not enough force to deal with the crowd, said Dharmendra Khandal, conservation biologist, Tiger Watch, an NGO.

There are several complaints against the forest officials which make the villagers lose confidence in them and react aggressively.

Besides, the local populace and the stakeholders have started feeling alienated from the officials responsible for the park management. Two experienced and efficient rangers were shifted from Ranthambhore to Ganganagar. Sudarshan Sharma, an expert in understanding the canine behaviour was moved out to handle social forestry and R S Kalla, who caught 20 poaching cases, too was shifted out, said Khandal.

The park may be shut for the tourists but each day nearly 3,000 to 4,000 pilgrims walk unchecked into the park. There are five-six temples in the sanctuary which make the villagers enter the park every day who also don't follow the rules of the national park. At the moment, there is gross official apathy towards grazing and woodcutting in the park, that aggravates during the monsoon.

FIR against photographer, 11 others: The man who took the dramatic photographs of the Ranthambore forest ranger being mauled by a tiger is one of 12 people against whom cops have registered cases under the Forests Act and relevant IPC sections. In the FIR, police have charged Dharmendra Khandal with obstructing the forest department from discharging its duties.