On December 28 last, a dead body of a Royal Tiger was found in the Patrapara forest of lathor Range of Balangir Forest Division. As ascertained, the size of the animal was 9.3 ft in length and 3.6 ft inheight. It was 12 years’ old.
The tiger was quite young. Although the reason of death of the animal is not conformed yet, but physical evidences say that the death of the royal cat is not natural but it was killed by application of poison.
Severe bleeding was found from its nose and mouth at the time of deathof the animal. The killing of wild animals through application of food poisoning is not new in Odisha. Several animals were killed before in the same style. But most strangely the State Forest Department in its
last Census report of tiger of 2016 says that there is no tiger in Balangir Forest Division. Such a report made the field staffers of Balangir Division careless about protection of tigers, which is quite unfortunate. The census of tigers or any carnivore is a continuous process but not the work of a day or two or for a certain period of the year. The tiger is a migratory animal like, elephant, which roams freely, particularly in search of food and to find a partner during the mating season to satisfy its sexual appetite. Of course, the elephants roam in herd, but the royal cat has no family except in the period of copulation.
When cubs are produced, the mother always keeps the cubs and herself apart from the father of the children and other male members for safety of the children. The writer while working in the western region of the State as a forest officer had many charming experiences.
In the past, the tract between Balangri and Kalahandi was very rich in bio-diversities. The royal tigers were found in the forests.
Herbivores like the wild buffaloes and elephants too were found in large numbers. Due to fast shrinkage of habitats and indiscriminate poaching of herbivores and carnivores, a fast depletion of wild lives took place in western Odisha.
The Rewa forests of undivided Madhya Pradesh is very close to forests under Kalahandi and Balangir Forest Divisions. It cannot be said that for the first time the deceased tiger had come to Balangir Forest
Division. It could have strayed many a time. When the local forest employees could not know the detail movements of the tigers of the locality, how could the poacher knew and tracked the animal is something strange. This also confirms that the last census of tigers in this division was not done sincerely.
In the last census of tigers in Odisha, it was claimed by the forest authorities that there are 40 tigers in the State as against 28 reported by the Central wild life authorities of India, which was done through camera trapping. This is a fact that the camera-trapping method is not foolproof. The chances of recording the activities of animals in the nature through photography cannot be possible in the natural hilly terrains and forested topography. There are various signs and symptoms of evidences of the carnivores which can make you sure that there is physical presence of tigers. First is “ killing evidence”, which includes the method of killing of its prey from nature or from domestic yard, especially in killing or the capturing or hunting of its prey by the royal tiger is quite different from other carnivores. The evidences of sightings of tiger are its roaming in the nature for collection of food and water, basking in the sun during winter months and searching for partner for sex etc. The tiger has very glorious habits. The presence of the royal tiger in a dense forest is always sirened by other animals of the locality. The monkeys make sound and jump from one tree to other out of fear at the sight of a tiger. The deer also jump and run from one place to other for escaping the clutch of the tiger.
The jackals in the nearby areas also bark and make others cautious and careful from the Royal hunter and the jackal always follows the tiger to get the food remnant.
Similarly, there are birds, who generally siren the presence of the tiger in the forest. The presence of tiger cannot remain a secret in its habitat and the territorial jurisdiction of each male tiger is always known. Not only the tiger, but also sex, age and height of the animal can be known which can always differ from one tiger to other except the colour. The colour can be known only from physical sighting or by camera trapping. The foot prints of the heavy bodied animals not only of tiger, but also other animals are always caught in the wet and moisture sand beds and mud flats, while moving for quenching water and following a prey. The foot prints of tiger from these sites can be recast correctly for official records through the liquid paste of plaster of parish. This is one way of collection of physical evidences for counting of tigers in a forest.
The other way of collection of evidence from the spot is that, a piece of glass with wooden frame like a writing slate, known as “Tiger Tracer” is placed on the pug marks of the animal and through a soft pencil the whole pugmark is drawn over the glass plate of the slated one. It is very carefully brought to the office and the figure is redrawn on a transparent tracing paper for permanent record and study.
From all these figures the sex, the age and the height of the animal are rightly studied and pronounced. The roaring of the tiger also proclaims its presence. Specially during mating period, the male tigers fight between themselves to win the bride. The winner always owns the bride and the bride waits to choose the winter of the fight.
The entire forest is divided into several compartments and sub-compartments from management point of view. So sketch of every biometric action of every carnivore can be recorded in the compartment history file for future reference which is usually maintained in every forest division and range. Other signs of presence of a tiger can easily be known specially during mating season.
Recently few skins of leopards were seized from the poachers of Similipal forests in Rairangpur areas, which indicates the leopards are at a stake in Odisha. There is regular poaching of tigers, elephants and other herbivores in our forests. Public awareness and cooperation must be ensured for protection of the wild lives.
(The writer is a former senior forest officer and an environmentalist. Tel no 9937460649)