Tigers have chosen a remote wildlife sanctuary in Chhattisgarh to make their new home. For the first time, the Bhoramdeo Wildlife Sanctuary in the State has registered the confirmed presence of two resident breeding tigresses, with cubs staying in its core area since the onset of monsoon this year. Such findings are reasons to cheer, especially when shrinking of habitats is one of the biggest challenges for tiger conservation in the country today.
According to Vishwesh Kumar, DFO Kawardha, though instances of tiger migration had been recorded earlier from the neighbouring Kanha reserve in Madhya Pradesh, this is certainly a new trend. The 360 sq kms Bhoramdeo Sanctuary and Kanha Tiger Reserve share common borders with each other, making it easier for the big cats to cross over between the two States.
“Since the months of June-July this year, pictures from camera traps and regular detection of signages as scat, killings of prey animals, pug marks etc., have established their presence in Bhoram Deo,” he said. One of these tigresses has been found in the Pratapgarh area with two cubs and the other in Sonwahi region along with one cub. This part of the sanctuary has little disturbance as compared to the overcrowded Kanha. Monsoon is the breeding period of tigers when they look for such areas for privacy and safety of the cubs.
However, preparations have been afoot since the past two-three years to prepare the habitat to welcome big cats from the neighbouring tiger State. “The first step was to sustain a stable population of prey base for the big cats comprising of various herbivores,” said Kumar.
For this special efforts are being taken to rejuvenate grasslands. While some parts of the sanctuary’s grasslands are self generating, artificial grasslands have also been developed in the sanctuary. Various types of grass and perennial herbs were planted to develop the habitat. “Today, there is a viable population of Indian bison, chital, sambar, wild boar, blue bulls etc,” said Kumar.
To add to them, the bamboo culms (hollow aerial shoots) which occur in abundance in the sanctuary are also ideal for herbivores. The soft shoots not only provide food to them but their overgrowth also provides a protective cover.
“Further, water holes have been created at various gradients of the rivulets that gush down the surrounding Maikal Hills. Check dams and stop dams have been constructed to hold back the monsoon water which provide water for most parts of the year,” said Kumar. With this nearly 60%-65% of the habitat has been developed for the sustenance of big cats and their prey animals.
However, the most important part lies in the protection of tigers and wildlife. The sanctuary has nearly 27 villages in its buffer zone and about 8-10 fringe villages outside the borders. Protection has been stepped up at the entry points of the sanctuary.
Joint programmes, including patrolling, training, intelligence and technology sharing, are organised with Kanha Tiger Reserve and organisations as World Wildlife Fund (WWF) from time to time. Further local communities are also included in the protection groups after conduction of awareness drives.
The wildlife experts are enthused by the situation. The last tiger census report released by Ministry of Environment and Forest had mentioned of 22% loss in habitat in the country. Though there was 12% rise in tiger population habitat shrinking has been a matter of serious concern.