Recently the Centre has given nod for starting a tiger conservation project in Sunabeda forest block of Nuapada district. This will be the third tiger conservation project in the State after Similipal in Mayurbhanj and Satakosia in Angul district.
Union Environment and Forests Minister Prakash Javadekar recently has announced in the Rajya Sabha that the Centre has given permission for two new tiger conservation projects and four new elephant projects in the country. Besides Sunabeda tiger project, another project to be launched is at Chatapani forest block in Madhya Pradesh.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority has also approved the projects from technical point of view. Kudremukh national park in Karnataka, Rajaji national park in Uttarakhand and Bor national park in Maharashtra have got status of national parks or tiger reserves. There are 46 tiger reserves coming in 18 States. Similarly, there are 28 elephant reserves in the country.
The Sunabeda tiger reserve cum national park is situated in the border areas between Chhattisgarh and Odisha covering an area of 600 sq km. It is a heavily Maoist-infested area. The last tiger census was done here was in 2010 and no census was carried out thereafter. So the current status of tiger population is not known in the forest block.
Rewa forests of undivided Madhya Pradesh which adjoin the Nuapada forests and form a physiographic geo-complex of the region is a top tiger habitat. The white tigers were first detected in the region. These species are quite unique in the world. These tigers were first sent to different parts of the world for multiplications. The Rewa forests are therefore famous for this reason.
The world is going to observe the Tiger Conservation Day on July 29 to make the people of the globe tiger conscious. At the same time, July 28 is observed as the World Moisture Conservation Day.
Conservation of water is must for sustainable management of biosphere of the Royal tigers. Moreover, this is the mating period of the Royal cats. The tiger is a predating animal. The newborn tiger cubs prey on the kids of herbivores. Hence for a tiger land, the herbs are the basic need for sustainable management of the herbivores, who can support the tiger populations.
The Sunabeda tiger reserve received the status of a wildlife sanctuary in 1988. The atmospheric temperature of the sanctuary ranges from 12 degree to 35 degree Celsius. The sanctuary carries tropical semi evergreen to deciduous forests, where tropical grasses are profusely available. The whole sanctuary is traversed by several perennial and non-perennial water streams with several springs and water holes.
The major fauna are tiger, leopard, hyena, barking deer, chital, Gour, Sambar, sloth bear, varieties of ground as well as tree birds such as hill myna and partridge and a number of reptiles. The sanctuary is a potential habitat of deer and wild buffalo.
The poaching of tiger is less in this sanctuary as compared to Similipal and Satkosia tiger reserves. The poaching of animals and smuggling of timbers are also less thanks to a fear of the Maoists. The white tiger land is effectively saved due to the Maoists, who have proved to be a blessing in disguise.
The total area under tiger conservation project of Odisha comes to 4,145.52 sq km. The tiger conservation project of Similipal forests comes to 2,750 sq km, which comes in the northern fringe of Eastern Ghat. Similarly Sakoshia tiger conservation project comes to 795.52 sq km, which forms the eastern region of hill range of Eastern Ghat.
There are tribal and non-tribal villages in the three tiger reserves of the State. All the 46 tiger reserves and 26 elephant reserves of the country are having more or less forest dwellers’ villages within their limits that are associated with the wildlife as part of their habitat. They should be educated on the wildlife management. The professional staff members alone cannot make various conservation programmes successful.
In Odisha, there are three elephant reserves such as Chandaka, Satkosia and Sambalpur, where the same conservation practices like the tiger reserve should be followed and resources of the reserves be protected for protection of biggest herbivore and carnivore of animal world.
The forest dwellers should not be treated as a liability. The pace at which elephants are killed in the State, time is not far when the elephant population will be extinct. Growing human intervention in their habitats leads to a spate in the man-animal conflicts.
The Royal tiger is a rich coloured, well striped animal. Different types of animals are found in different climatic conditions. In general, there are six races of tiger found in the Asian continent.
The Indian race is typical. It is found throughout India except in the desert of Rajasthan. The Indian tiger can climb up to 10,000 feet altitude within the winter snows of the Himalayas. It also lives in humid evergreen forests, dry deciduous forest and grassy swamps.
But the Sundarbans are an ideal land for the Royal tigers where they get enough of food, estuarine land with mud and water. A tiger generally needs bumper zone upon which it can chase its prey; ample shed to rest with least disturbance and water to quench its thirst.
The Sundarbans tigers are shorter in height than general tigers. The tidal tiger lives in the saline water and hunts animals, fishes and even human beings. It sets out for hunting during morning and evening.
A hungry tiger can eat almost anything fowl, fish and reptile. In absence of natural animals, it does cattle lifting and man eating. So the habitat of tiger should be maintained well without any human interference. The world is now conscious of conservation of tigers as this species is an endangered one.
(The writer is a former senior forest officer and an environmentalist. Tel no. 9937460649)