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Tiger Reserves in India
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With Ranthambore overflowing & young tiger regularly leaving the monitored area, drawing a lot of flak towards the state govt. for "missing tigers", Kumbhalgarh is more or less set to become a Tiger Reserve.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has written to the chief wildlife warden of Rajasthan to look into the possibility of upgrading Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary, once proposed for Asiatic lion reintroduction, into a tiger reserve. The letter dated February 10 asked the forest department to explore the possibility keeping in view the core buffer strategy and landscape approach towards tiger conservation. NTCA has sought a detailed report in this regard. The letter read that in the 17th meeting of NTCA held on January 6, Dungarpur MP Harshvardhan Singh had expressed his opinion that the sanctuary be notified as tiger reserve to accommodate the rising population of the big cat in the state. According to the draft, the name of the area is proposed to be Kumbhalgarh Tiger Reserve which will constitute Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary & Todgarh-Raoli Wildlife Sanctuary situated along the length of the Aravalli range, plus some adjoining forest areas. The area of the proposed reserve is 1280.50 km², out of which 355.25 km² will be the core area & 925.25 km² as buffer area in Phase I.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author The highlight of the proposed tiger reserve is that there are no revenue villages in the proposed core area. The proposed reserve lies in the districts of Pali, Rajsamand, Udaipur and Ajmer and is located in the oldest range of Aravallis spreading over the tract starting from Khulbrahora (Gujarat) and culminating on Delhi ridge. Rajasthan forest department has already initiated the process to upgrade the two narrow sanctuaries into another tiger reserve. Once, tigers used to roam in the natural forests of Kumbhalgarh and Raoli-Todgarh. The habitat of both the sanctuaries is suitable to tigers, other predators and its prey base. A final proposal had been submitted to chief wildlife warden for the same. Following the state government’s direction, assessment report on the potential for relocation of the big cats at the sanctuary was prepared by the department. “We are already working on the possibility of upgrading the sanctuary and will reply to NTCA with the detailed report. A draft proposal has been ready for a while,” said Arindam Tomar, chief wildlife warden. ....................................................................................................................... Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary in southewestern Bihar that was slated to be a the state's 2nd Reserve (#32) too was in news this week & still in the run.  *This image is copyright of its original author A forest official said that pugmarks of a tigress have been seen on the hillsides of Auraiya, Bhukkuda and Durgavati reservoirs of Chenari in Rohtas district. The claw marks seen in several places as well. A tiger has also been sighted in Chenari, tracking in the area is being done by Forest Department. Officials claimed that stool was found for the first time in the Tilothu area on November 4 last year, which was also confirmed as tiger's at the laboratory of Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun. There are speculations that the tiger may have reached a tiger reserve of neighbouring Jharkhand or Chattisgarh.  *This image is copyright of its original author Kaimur, a large sanctuary of near 2000 km², had completely fallen off conservation map in past few decades of misgovernance & negligence. While resident tigers have vanished, migrant tigers are still reported by locals to visit the area. However, there was absolutely no monitoring or protection of this critical landscape until last year & reversing the situation like in Valmiki TR is requisite. The process of protecting the fauna of Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary has been started and the forest is being monitored thoroughly. Authorities said that when other wild animals grow, more tigers will also come. An official said that the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has also praised the initiative at Kaimur. Sources claim that these figures will be sent to NCTA, following which a formal proposal for declaration of TR is expected. Local people aren't opposed to the idea in hopes of that once the tiger reserve is declared, the area will be developed as a tourism hotspot drawing crowd from major cities of Bihar & Uttar Pradesh nearby. |
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