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27 tigers in Tadoba-Nagzira corridor, says study


Most of the conservation effort in tiger range countries is concentrated on a few, relatively large protected areas (PAs) but it is high time governments focused on forests outside the PA network, especially in Central India.

"India supports largest proportion of the global wild tiger population but has less than 7% of global tiger habitat, most of which is fragmented. Tigers once occupied over 90% of Indian subcontinent but within the last century their range has been estimated to have reduced by nearly 76%," says a study conducted by Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) on 'Assessing tiger distribution and the factors influencing tiger occupancy in Tadoba-Nagzira corridor 2014'.

"The study was conducted with the support of state chief wildlife warden and a final report will be submitted soon. The study conducted last year recorded presence of 27 tigers in the Nagzira-Tadoba corridor, with most of the individuals concentrated in Brahmapuri division adjoining Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR)," said executive director of WTI Rahul Kaul.

Kaul said camera trapping was mostly concentrated in Brahmapuri due to limited resources. This involved camera trapping on cattle kills, waterholes and frequently used trails.All 27 individual tigers were identified in addition to tiger-cubs and photographed at three different locations. 

The data show that several adults captured were previously photographed when they were cubs. Three tigers dispersed or moved between Brahmapuri and TATR buffer."This is not in conjunction with the theory that areas outside Tadoba are just sinks. It shows areas outside PAs were also supporting breeding tigers," said Kaul. 

Prafulla Bhamburkar, Aditya Joshi, Vivek Tumsare and Rajendra Mishra were part of the study conducted last year."The aim of this study was to generate baseline data on distribution of tigers, the anthropogenic factors influencing tiger occupancy and habitat connectivity across one of the most important corridors in Tadoba-Nagzira," said Kaul.

The study detected tiger presence outside PAs but also showed that as the distance from source PAs increased, the presence decreased. The major factors influencing tiger occupancy in Tadoba-Nagzira corridor were presence of large prey species, disturbance, proportion of tiger habitat and livestock. Circuitscape results show critical areas for restoration in order to strengthen this corridor. With appropriate actions, this corridor has potential to not only facilitate tiger movement but also support resident tiger populations.

Study points out that knowledge of tiger occupancy outside PAs should be adequate. Such data allow identification of new habitats with potential for tigers and could potentially help in upgrading the legal protection status of these areas. Accurate estimates of various population parameters are important for management and conservation; and strengthen the argument for protecting the remaining potential habitats.

Periodic monitoring of animal populations helps in setting specific management objectives and monitoring the success of conservation programme. Surveys of large landscapes can help identify habitat corridors, status of connectivity between source populations and routes used by dispersing tigers.



Threats to Tiger corridor


* Thinning & degradation: After fragmentation, major but highly underestimated threat to the corridors is the thinning of the forests, further leading to degradation.

* Fuel-wood extraction: Main cause of forest-thinning. Local communities are highly dependent on forests for fuel-wood. Camera trap images reveal large quantities of wood are transported on bicycles almost daily.

* Bamboo extraction: It also leads to thinning. Large quantities of bamboo are extracted to make bamboo-mats. These mats are then collected by a dealer at the rate of about Rs 150/mat. They are mostly used to make house-compounds.

* Forest Fires: Man made fire leads to immense destruction and wipes out undergrowth. These fires are set in the summer season and make it difficult for wildlife to survive.

* Monoculture: Several reserve forests have been given on lease to FDCM. Several areas where working of the FDCM is carried out are the areas used by tigers. It is high time new roles should be given to the FDCM, which will help meet conservation goals.

* Roads & Railways: With several villages being connected with metalled-road, there has been an increase in vehicular traffic even in the remote forest areas leading to regular wild animal deaths.

* Dams & Canals: Human (Uma) river is one of the tributaries of the Wainganga passing through TATR-Brahmapuri corridor. Human will wipe out tiger corridor. Gosikhurd has cut the corridor.

* Hunting: Killing herbivores poses a continuous threat. Snares are set regularly for catching hare and nets are used to catch wild-pig. These activities go unnoticed.



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