Bigcats News

[Rishi]

(04-16-2019, 12:41 PM)Lycaon Wrote: A forest department documentary promo shows ACF Rameshwari Bongale saying, “We have to undertake a massive operation to reduce tiger population.” The video, which went viral, has kicked up a storm. 
“I don’t deny saying it, but it should be taken positively. I was specific about Brahmapuri division where tiger numbers have gone up compared to the forest area. Tiger numbers should be sustainable,” Bongale said.

Amod Gaurkar, founder of Tarun Paryavaran Mandal, Shankarpur, said: “It is an irresponsible statement on the part of the ACF. Brahmapuri forest is 1,100sqkm and 41 tigers can easily live in it provided officials remove encroachments and stop grazing and illicit felling of trees”. “It is wrong to say that the tiger numbers have gone up. Actually, increasing human population is limiting space for tiger movement, causing mananimal conflict. Space management is necessary to control conflict,” said conservationist Prafulla Bhamburkar. 

Technically both parties are right... I'm sure she didn't mean culling by the "massive operation to reduce tiger numbers" but creating corridors & relocating surplus animals. 

But also it can support that population provided they maintain it like atleast the buffers. Unlike Terai or Nilgiri, conflict & human interference are both really high in that area. The insensitivity of the urban social "wildlifers" towards safety of forest-folk during cases like the recent Avni debacle, have made them even more adverse.
It's time NTCA & FD considered developing a separate wing to specialise in man-animal conflict mitigation & bring in those areas into planned management. Reply