BENGALURU: Karnataka has much to roar about. The latest tiger census report, released on Tuesday, showed that the state is home to 406 tigers, the largest in the country. It also revealed the big cat's population had risen from 300 recorded in the previous census of 2010, up by 35%. This is higher than the national average of around 30% growth in tiger numbers. The report was released by environment minister Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi.
With Karnataka maintaining its No.1 rank in tiger population, 18% per cent of the country's 2,226 big cats now live in the state. During the last count, the state was home to about 17.5% of the country's tiger population.
Sources in the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) said the rise in numbers is good across the tiger reserves in Karnataka, with Bandipur and Nagarahole alone housing around 200, which is half of the tiger population.
Environmentalists attribute the rise in numbers to conservation efforts undertaken by the forest department and the role of non-government organizations as well. "Strict patrolling in tiger reserves and stringent anti-poaching measures have nurtured the tiger population," said Naveen KS, environmentalist.
However, some experts caution that the burgeoning population is also a cause for concern with growing instances of human-animal conflicts in the state. "Tiger census figures say that around 10% of the big cats live outside the protected area. This means, there are around 40 tigers in the said region in Karnataka at any point of time. It's high time the government took the matter seriously and put in place proper measures to tackle the conflict situations," said a wildlife activist, on the condition of anonymity.
As reported by TOI recently, Karnataka has witnessed as many as 95 human deaths in human-animal conflicts in the last 21 months. Forty deaths have happened since April last year. The conflict zone that was restricted some years ago to a few districts like Hassan and Kodagu has widened and is now spread over 12 of the state's 30 districts.
Ajai Misra, additional principal chief conservator of forests, said there was a need to understand conflict situations in a proper way. "Conflicts are part of evolution and they do exist in large number within the human society as well. Focus is on creating awareness among forest fringe communities on how to react when they encounter wild animals. Also, we are undertaking capacity building programmes for staff so that their response time improves," he added.
A senior forest official said the rising tiger numbers is not a cause for worry as human-animal conflict in Karnataka is more to do with elephants. "Looking at statistics, about 30 of the 40 humans killed since April last year were elephant victims. Instances of tigers involved in a conflict situation leading to human death have been only four," he added.
Another environmentalist said the state government should not drop the guard, just because the numbers have gone up. "As numbers grow, there are more threats looming over big cats, including poaching as there is demand for skin and other body parts in the international market," he said.
