Tigers of Central India

[Ngala]

Photo and information credits: Sanjeev Siva
Children of a lesser God.

Buffer zones are contiguous areas to the core or critical tiger habitat that support the surplus and overfloating tigers.

Buffers are generally extensions or connectors to critical reserve area, or migration corridors interspersed with human habitations and roughly correspond to IUCN Category V (conservation reserves - the lands are owned by govt. but used for subsistence by local communities) and VI (community reserves - privately owned lands) protected areas. 

Tourists don't frequent buffers for they hold various misconceptions.

Most believe that buffers don't have tigers. The fact is good buffering zones surrounding many tiger reserves have a good population of tigers. The only problem is that each tigress gives birth to a litter of three on average, per year, and these new born are raised till sub-adult stage with utmost care by the mother, whence the young ones venture out in search of new territories. That's when they vanish, normally poached.

Another misconception is that owing to human activity, buffers are considered less conducive to tiger sightings. While this may be true to an extent, human activity inside a core is nevertheless any lesser. Foot patrolling, grass cutting or clearing of forest for fire lines, controlled fire by department and intrusive tourism etc. account for ruined sightings inside protected areas.

Because buffers are not much visited, a missing tiger here wouldn’t be accounted for as strictly and as vigilantly as its counterpart from core area. This will change only if tourism makes inroads to buffer areas as diligently as it does in core areas. Responsibility and accountability of a tiger in buffer area would mean that the buffer areas will stop being the production houses for poachers. Over 70% of the tigers poached in the last decade happen to be from buffers and fringes.

Every tiger has an equal right to survive in the wild, and every tiger needs us to champion their cause, irrespective of whether the tiger belongs to core or buffer or whether they enjoy hero status, impartially.

Especially, these tigers aren’t “The Children of a lesser God”.

Calling her Mahima (Hindi for glorious or magical beauty), based on the M-marks on both her eyes and going by the tradition of naming Madhuri’s cubs after Bollywood heroines.

Mahima | Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, Agarzhari buffer zone.

*This image is copyright of its original author

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