Lucknow, March 31: Hardwar’s Rajaji National Park, known for its elephants, may be diversified into a tiger reserve to ease the pressure on the neighbouring Jim Corbett reserve where the big cat population has increased sharply.
The plan, suggested in a report of the Wild Life Institute of India (WII), got a fillip from the findings of the tiger census announced on Monday that showed the numbers in the Corbett reserve rising by 63, from 164 in 2006 to 227 in 2010. The figure does not include 34 cubs. Once they are counted after two years, the number will jump to 261.
But the Corbett park will find it difficult to accommodate so many of them. Y.B. Jhala, an expert with the Dehra Dun-based WII, said the park, spread over 520sqkm, has the highest density of tigers in the world.
That has swivelled the spotlight onto a paradox confronting wildlife specialists in recent years: a rise in the tiger population coupled with a reduction in the size of their habitat, often because of human encroachments.
It is here that the Rajaji reserve, larger at 820sqkm and with a corridor running to the Corbett park, can help. “The WII report said, and we all knew this, that our park is rich in prey for tigers. It has highest density of sambar, a tiger favourite, as well as wild pigs, chitals and goats,” said S.S. Rasaili, the director of the Rajaji National Park.
Tigers have been straying into the Rajaji park from the Corbett enclave but prefer to return to their original home.
Experts say a tigress should ideally have 50sqkm and a tiger 300sqkm to move around freely. The big cats in Corbett have only a fraction of that space. “Rajaji park may become an extended home for the tigers of Corbett. The park can sustain a standing tiger population,” Rasaili said. But the plan will require strengthening the forest cover and retaining enough tigresses to encourage breeding, other park officials said.
Shrikant Chandola, the principal chief conservator of forests (Wildlife) of Uttarakhand — under which both parks fall— agreed with the plan. “We got to prioritise the issues on the tigers’ mobility from Jim Corbett to Rajaji National Park and strengthen the corridors. The tigers will be attracted by the preys in Rajaji Park.”
The WII report was lying with the Uttarakhand government since it was submitted early this year. But the tiger census figures have prompted state wildlife officials to consider its recommendations. On Tuesday, the Uttarakhand forest officials discussed another problem highlighted in the report: removing encroachments in the corridor extending from the Corbett to the Rajaji reserve and making it suitable for tiger movements.
The officials discussed a draft plan suggested in the report to remove the encroachments on the boundaries of the two parks where man-animal conflicts have led to the killing of several tigers and villagers. Uttarakhand has the third-largest tiger population in the country, after Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.
V.P. Singh, the director of the Terai Nature Conservation Society and a wild life activist, backed the WII proposal. “We feel Uttarakhand should take the WII report seriously and let Rajaji National Park grow as a natural habitat for tigers. Even if it means adjusting some policies, the government should implement it.”
At the same time, Singh said the relocation of human settlements around the Corbett park should be speeded up and the tiger habitat protected.
The Rajaji park, nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas’ Shivalik ranges and named after freedom fighter C. Rajagopalachari, is one of India’s major wildlife reserves. With Ramnagar Hills to its east and Lansdown Hills to the west, the park borders the Uttarakhand districts of Hardwar, Pauri Garhwal and Dehra Dun.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110401/jsp/nation/story_13795608.jsp
The plan, suggested in a report of the Wild Life Institute of India (WII), got a fillip from the findings of the tiger census announced on Monday that showed the numbers in the Corbett reserve rising by 63, from 164 in 2006 to 227 in 2010. The figure does not include 34 cubs. Once they are counted after two years, the number will jump to 261.
But the Corbett park will find it difficult to accommodate so many of them. Y.B. Jhala, an expert with the Dehra Dun-based WII, said the park, spread over 520sqkm, has the highest density of tigers in the world.
That has swivelled the spotlight onto a paradox confronting wildlife specialists in recent years: a rise in the tiger population coupled with a reduction in the size of their habitat, often because of human encroachments.
It is here that the Rajaji reserve, larger at 820sqkm and with a corridor running to the Corbett park, can help. “The WII report said, and we all knew this, that our park is rich in prey for tigers. It has highest density of sambar, a tiger favourite, as well as wild pigs, chitals and goats,” said S.S. Rasaili, the director of the Rajaji National Park.
Tigers have been straying into the Rajaji park from the Corbett enclave but prefer to return to their original home.
Experts say a tigress should ideally have 50sqkm and a tiger 300sqkm to move around freely. The big cats in Corbett have only a fraction of that space. “Rajaji park may become an extended home for the tigers of Corbett. The park can sustain a standing tiger population,” Rasaili said. But the plan will require strengthening the forest cover and retaining enough tigresses to encourage breeding, other park officials said.
Shrikant Chandola, the principal chief conservator of forests (Wildlife) of Uttarakhand — under which both parks fall— agreed with the plan. “We got to prioritise the issues on the tigers’ mobility from Jim Corbett to Rajaji National Park and strengthen the corridors. The tigers will be attracted by the preys in Rajaji Park.”
The WII report was lying with the Uttarakhand government since it was submitted early this year. But the tiger census figures have prompted state wildlife officials to consider its recommendations. On Tuesday, the Uttarakhand forest officials discussed another problem highlighted in the report: removing encroachments in the corridor extending from the Corbett to the Rajaji reserve and making it suitable for tiger movements.
The officials discussed a draft plan suggested in the report to remove the encroachments on the boundaries of the two parks where man-animal conflicts have led to the killing of several tigers and villagers. Uttarakhand has the third-largest tiger population in the country, after Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.
V.P. Singh, the director of the Terai Nature Conservation Society and a wild life activist, backed the WII proposal. “We feel Uttarakhand should take the WII report seriously and let Rajaji National Park grow as a natural habitat for tigers. Even if it means adjusting some policies, the government should implement it.”
At the same time, Singh said the relocation of human settlements around the Corbett park should be speeded up and the tiger habitat protected.
The Rajaji park, nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas’ Shivalik ranges and named after freedom fighter C. Rajagopalachari, is one of India’s major wildlife reserves. With Ramnagar Hills to its east and Lansdown Hills to the west, the park borders the Uttarakhand districts of Hardwar, Pauri Garhwal and Dehra Dun.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110401/jsp/nation/story_13795608.jsp
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