Nagpur: With two incidents of tiger deaths — one in Bhamragarh and another in Chamorshi in Gadchiroli district, the state forest department needs to do a total recall as far as tiger monitoring and conservation is concerned.
Last month, Balaghat police had arrested three persons from Juwi near Bhamragarh, who confessed to poisoning a full-grown male tiger who had killed their cattle. On Wednesday, a young tigress was found dead on Wainganga river bank in Chamorshi range. Apart from this, there have been sizeable leopard skin seizures in the past couple of years from Gadchiroli.
Wildlife conservationists say it is high time the forest department wakes up from its deep slumber to find out how many tigers are there in Gadchiroli, where no tiger estimation has been done for the last 15 years. The last estimation was done in 2001 at 104 sq km Bhamragarh wildlife sanctuary, while there is no serious estimation in territorial areas since 2005 when all five divisions — Bhamragarh, Allapalli, Wadsa, Sironcha and Gadchiroli — were part of North and South Chandrapur circles.
This is despite the fact that the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in its report in 2010 on tiger estimation had said that northern forest patches in the district of Gadchiroli have tiger presence. "This possibly indicates habitat connectivity to populations in Indravati tiger reserve in Chhattisgarh and the forests of Andhra Pradesh," WII had said.
As per the first four-year estimation of tigers in 1989, there were 37 tigers in Allapalli division, 22 in Bhamragarh, 48 in Sironcha, and four each in Gadchiroli and Wadsa divisions. However, in 2005, when the last estimation was conducted, only five tigers were recorded in all these divisions.
"If forest officials themselves admit there are no tigers left in Gadchiroli than where have all these tigers gone? Under the garb of Naxals there is no monitoring and poachers take advantage of the situation," says Gadchiroli honorary wildlife warden MS Chouhan.
"According to my field survey of Gadchiroli in 2007, I recorded evidence of seven tigers in Sironcha, four in Allapalli, two in Gadchiroli and three in Wadsa. However, the report is gathering dust as officials are not ready to believe there are tigers left in the tribal district. A serious estimation can add to tiger numbers," Chouhan said.
Wildlife conservationist Kishor Rithe says, "It is wrong to say there are no tigers in Gadchiroli. There are still regular reports of cattle kills in many places which go unreported. As there is no monitoring and patrolling tiger presence is not reported. We need to take steps to restore back tigers in these areas by taking corrective measures."
Principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) for wildlife Sarjan Bhagat admits there is need for regular monitoring and estimation of tiger-bearing areas in Gadchiroli.
"Presently, it is done in every four years, but we plan to make it an annual feature from next year. This year, we conducted line transact survey and report has been sent to the WII," Bhagat said. He admitted that no census is conducted in Bhamragarh sanctuary owing to left-wing extremism.
Five Tiger Death This Year
* Jan 10: Raipur range of Melghat Tiger Reserve
* June 24: Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve
* July 19: Pombhurna tiger shot dead
* Oct 26: Tigress died of starvation in Umred-Karhandla
* Nov 12: Tigress electrocuted in Chamorshi range
Possibilities from where the deceased tigress could have come: The tigress must be a resident of Saoli range in Mul. It must have been migrating further via adjoining forest of Kothari, Pombhurna, Chamorshi, Ghot and Allapalli. Tigers cross Wainganga to reach Gadchiroli and Indravati
Poor monitoring in Gadchiroli: Owing to Naxal problem, forest officials do not monitor tigers. They may be aware but no noise is made as it would invite trouble of regular monitoring
Immediate steps to be taken: Regular tiger estimation exercise by deploying camera traps need to be undertaken, besides patrolling in tiger bearing areas. Shrinking corridors need to be restored and prey base needs to be increased though poaching is one of the biggest issues in Gadchiroli
Availability of herbivores: For certain tribes of Gadchiroli, hunting is an obsession and tradition. Even monkeys and birds are not spared. Hence, even if there may be presence of tigers, they may be feeding on cattle
