In a rare case of solidarity former field directors of Palamu Tiger Reserve are rallying behind the present incumbent M P Singh in this ‘difficult time’ in PTR where wild life is made to hear gun shots, sounds of multiple explosions and also where lives of cops are lost in Maoists triggered land mines and wild life especially the elephant succumbs to mine blast injury as it happened last year in this PTR.
A former field director of PTR P R Sinha in his message wrote that it is ‘difficult time’ for PTR saying the landscape of this tiger reserve is connected to a larger tiger occupied area and hence tigers of PTR are ‘transient individuals’.
Sinha has also advocated for a disturbance free PTR as disturbance free environment is a pre-requisite for breeding success and its sustainability. However PTR is now synonymous with most unwarranted disturbances all coming from uniform boot wearing troops in the jungles of PTR scouring for hiding Maoists.
One other former field director of PTR Sangam lahiri has sent his message where he writes that ‘tigers prefer to move to the fringes of PTR like Satbarwa, Ranki, Kewatbar, lanka, Kope, Chungru, Banskarcha, Nawa Toli etc when their habitat gets inviolated.
lahiri says this tendency of tigers to move out is also born out of their disposition ‘towards preying the domestic cattle.’
He further wrote that domestic cattle outnumber the prey density of the PTR. He announces that 30 to 40% of wild life population is almost ‘resident outside protected areas’ (PA) lahiri further wrote that PTR’s monitoring and ‘limited tourism’ are restricted to this 30 to 40 % protected areas where sighting /evidences of tiger is low because of the acute biotic pressures.
lahiri bats for relocation of inside villages to outside PTR a solo campaign which the present incumbent M P Singh of PTR is feverishly pursuing with numerous hiccups some official and some from various public groups. Sources said people of Kujrum village in PTR is most willing to come out of PTR but some outside forces are on a disinformation campaign against relocation.
Sources said there is a ground swell against the deployment of more than one dozen companies of armed to the teeth security forces in the PTR by way of holding forward security posts and if things are any indication then a big fight with the Maoists is in the offing in the Burha Pahar region which falls between PTR’s Bareysarn range and Kutku range. A highly placed police official said PTR is bound to rattle more violently than Khapri Mahua in PTR’s Kutku range as the state police and CPMF are determined to smoke the Maoists out from Burha Pahar.
Palamu Tiger Friends is bombed with thumbs up signs to show the present dispensation of PTR that all are one so far welfare and safety of wild life is concerned.