To reduce rising incidents of man-tiger conflicts
More than 100 camera traps are deployed to track the movement of tigers in the Terai region adjoining Uttar Pradesh-Uttarakhand border, particularly the Corbett landscape. The project aimed at reducing the rising incidents of man tiger conflicts in these areas while attempting to trace the elusive man-eating tigress of Bijnor. The region having one of world’s densest population of tigers is facing growing human pressures and degrading forest corridors.
“We are also planning to attach GPS-enabled collars on the necks of tigers to make it easy to identify and locate them,” said Kamlesh Kumar, conservator of forests, Moradabad division. Simultaneously the camera traps will help the forest officials to track the behavioural change of tigers.
The installation of the large number of cameras will also help in locating the man-eater tigress, which has killed at least seven people in western UP in about two months. “We have launched an extensive campaign to trace the tigress but she has not been sighted anywhere so far”, regretted Kumar.
According to the forest officials, the process of installing the cameras has been started at Nazirabad forest division which is connected to CTR. About 100 cameras that are to be placed in the forest, are being gradually supplied from Wildlife Institute of India.
“Man-animal conflict around the Terai areas will only escalate in the days to come,” predicted experts from WII. “In a number of places especially on the UP side, there are thin, linear strips of forests jutting into human settlements. These forests are surrounded on three sides by farmland and villages, which makes these spots highly vulnerable.”
Added to this, there are the vast tracts of land under sugarcane cultivation along the western UP. Carnivores see sugarcane plantations as tall grasslands providing safe sanctuary and a good supply of prey in the form of wild pigs, dogs, nilgai and livestock and most importantly remaining unseen by humans, said the experts.
“Nobody accepts their presence outside the parks. When a big cat comes into a city or other unlikely place, it’s seen as having ‘strayed in’,” says Vidya Athreya, wildlife biologist who has studied the carnivores in human setting. Only when these carnivores are recognised as a part of the human landscape can there be an effective approach to dealing with conflict issues, she adds.
“There’s a standard operating procedure for dealing with such situations brought out by the National Tiger Conservation Authority. It’s shocking that police and administration in Meerut, which is in the sugarcane belt where leopard presence is expected, were not aware of what was to be done,” says Athreya.
