Sariska tigers back to wild diet
Under constant watch, big cats explore village, state highway22 July, 2008 Hindustan Times
In a welcome sign of settling down in their new home since the two big cats were released out of their enclosures two weeks back, the animals have finally hunted down their first wild preys in Sariska.
Monitoring teams have found remains of a Sambar and a fawn hunted by the tigress on last Friday. Though the field staff had no such luck with the kills made by the tiger, the fact that he did not take any goat bait for some days indicated that he also went for a hard-earned change of taste.
Since the two big cats were shifted to Sariska enclosures from Ranthambhore three weeks back, they were on a goat diet. Even after the tigers were let out of the enclosures, the forest authorities continued with live goat baits so that the animals don’t move too far in search of food. Many were worried that too long on goat diet might make the animals selectively target livestock in the surrounding villages and create man-animal conflict.
"Yes, it’s great news that the tigers have made wild kills. They continue to be in fine health and are settling down. They have not come face to face yet and their territories do not overlap," confirmed PS Somshekhar, Field Director, Sariska.
While both animals have apparently settled down in the Core One – easily the best forest stretch in Sariska – since their release outside the enclosures, they have given quite a few anxious moments to the monitoring teams of scientists from Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the local forest staff.
Last week, the tigress moved close to the edge of the forest near Naldeshwar before moving back on her own. Yesterday, she ventured till the state highway (SH-13) near Kushalgarh but, fortunately, did not cross over. Under close watch, she has not gone too far back inside the forest till this evening.
The tiger, on the other hand, threatened to walk out of the reserve through the Tehla gate a few days back. Then on Saturday night, the big male decided to explore Dabkon, a village of about 35 households at the edge of the forest near Tehla. But the monitoring teams took positions early and were ready when the tiger walked in at around 2 am on Sunday morning. As the villagers watched in huddles, the forest staff pushed the big cat back using traditional methods of bursting firecrackers and playing drums.
"It is natural that the big cats will walk in all directions as they are trying to explore the forest before curving out their territories. Anyway, Sariska is a linear stretch of forest and the edges are not too far apart. But constant monitoring is on efficient intervention methods are in place," said Dr Rajesh Gopal, chief of National Tiger Conservation Authority.
Since the two radio-collared big cats walked free, the tiger has covered an area of about 100 sq km. He has been spotted marking his territory around the place from where a forest village – Bagani – was recently moved out. The tigress, typically, showed less movement and has remained contained within 45-50 sq km. "She has been by far confined to the Sukhota block of the Akbarpura range," said Somshekhar.
Monitoring teams have found remains of a Sambar and a fawn hunted by the tigress on last Friday. Though the field staff had no such luck with the kills made by the tiger, the fact that he did not take any goat bait for some days indicated that he also went for a hard-earned change of taste.
Since the two big cats were shifted to Sariska enclosures from Ranthambhore three weeks back, they were on a goat diet. Even after the tigers were let out of the enclosures, the forest authorities continued with live goat baits so that the animals don’t move too far in search of food. Many were worried that too long on goat diet might make the animals selectively target livestock in the surrounding villages and create man-animal conflict.
"Yes, it’s great news that the tigers have made wild kills. They continue to be in fine health and are settling down. They have not come face to face yet and their territories do not overlap," confirmed PS Somshekhar, Field Director, Sariska.
While both animals have apparently settled down in the Core One – easily the best forest stretch in Sariska – since their release outside the enclosures, they have given quite a few anxious moments to the monitoring teams of scientists from Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the local forest staff.
Last week, the tigress moved close to the edge of the forest near Naldeshwar before moving back on her own. Yesterday, she ventured till the state highway (SH-13) near Kushalgarh but, fortunately, did not cross over. Under close watch, she has not gone too far back inside the forest till this evening.
The tiger, on the other hand, threatened to walk out of the reserve through the Tehla gate a few days back. Then on Saturday night, the big male decided to explore Dabkon, a village of about 35 households at the edge of the forest near Tehla. But the monitoring teams took positions early and were ready when the tiger walked in at around 2 am on Sunday morning. As the villagers watched in huddles, the forest staff pushed the big cat back using traditional methods of bursting firecrackers and playing drums.
"It is natural that the big cats will walk in all directions as they are trying to explore the forest before curving out their territories. Anyway, Sariska is a linear stretch of forest and the edges are not too far apart. But constant monitoring is on efficient intervention methods are in place," said Dr Rajesh Gopal, chief of National Tiger Conservation Authority.
Since the two radio-collared big cats walked free, the tiger has covered an area of about 100 sq km. He has been spotted marking his territory around the place from where a forest village – Bagani – was recently moved out. The tigress, typically, showed less movement and has remained contained within 45-50 sq km. "She has been by far confined to the Sukhota block of the Akbarpura range," said Somshekhar.
Early freedom for Sariska tigress
7 July, 2008 Hindustan TimesSariska's first couple is out in the open. But the big cats are yet to cross each other's path. While the female stayed put in her enclosure till evening after the sliding gate was opened early this morning, the male tiger traveled quite a distance on his second day of freedom.
While the tiger had to wait for eight days, the tigress got a chance to walk free on her fourth day in Sariska. She has to thank the tiger for her early freedom. It is the male's relaxed movement yesterday that gave the team of scientists from Wildlife Institute of India and forest staff the confidence to free the female so early.
But the tigress did not budge till this evening. The monitoring teams expect her to move away from the enclosure later tonight. From the signals picked up from her radio collar over the past three days, itis clear that the tigress gets active only after sundown.
Hunger is another factor that should drive her movements tonight as the tigress is yet to make any kill since she arrived at Sariska. The female was allowed to finish a kill at Ranthambhore – one good meal lasts a big cat at least three days -- before she was airlifted on July 4.
Meanwhile, the tiger started exploring the forest today and traveled about 10 km till Bramhanath in the Kalighati area. Though he has not yet threatened to stray, his movements are being closely monitored.
Sariska male walks free, stays put
Tigress doing fine in enclosure, to be out in 48 hours
6 July, 2008 Hindustan Times
MINUTES after his eighth sunrise in captivity, the male tiger from Ranthambhore walked out of his one-hectare enclosure this morning to discover his new 800 sq km kingdom of Sariska. Taking one of the three possible routes – all leading to the Kalighati area towards the centre of Sariska -- created by park officials through a funneling effect outside the enclosure gate, he moved on to make a goat kill.
Being monitored round-the-clock by three teams of scientists fromWildlife Institute of India (WII) and the forest staff, the radio-collared tiger still has the easy option to continue on a goatdiet for a few days more. Like this morning when three goat baits wereput on three possible tracks, officials will continue to offer thetiger live baits till he shows definite signs of settling down. Ofcourse, the big cat has the freedom to go for wild prey available inplenty.
The decision of continuing with live bait, according to sources,overruled an alternative strategy considered earlier last week. Theidea was to keep the tiger hungry for a couple of days before releaseso that he did not wait looking for livestock and rushed to make awild kill.
In fact, the tiger's freedom was delayed after he made a goat killinside the enclosure on Wednesday. Subsequently, the arrival of thetigress on Friday and heavy pilgrim traffic on Saturday prolonged hisstay inside the enclosure.
Today, a team of WII scientists swung into action around 2-15 in themorning. They prepared a pug impression pad with fine dust and set upa camera trap at the gate of the enclosure to record the tiger's exit.Then the team waited for the first light of the day before opening the sliding gates of the enclosure at 4-30 in the morning. The tiger soon came striding and stepped out around 5-30 am.
After consuming the goat he killed at 6-30 am, the tiger spent hisearly hours of freedom in a leisurely survey of an area of about 2 sqkm between the enclosure and Kalighati. Later in the day, he made afew short trips up and down the hillocks. Under an overcast sky and intermittent drizzle, he seemed to have taken it easy the first day.
Meanwhile, the tigress is in good health inside her enclosure andexpected to make her first kill tonight. She was allowed to finish akill at Ranthambhore – one good meal lasts a big cat about three days-- before she was picked up on July 4. If both animals continue toshow normal behaviour, the tigress will be set free by Tuesday.
6 July, 2008 Hindustan Times
MINUTES after his eighth sunrise in captivity, the male tiger from Ranthambhore walked out of his one-hectare enclosure this morning to discover his new 800 sq km kingdom of Sariska. Taking one of the three possible routes – all leading to the Kalighati area towards the centre of Sariska -- created by park officials through a funneling effect outside the enclosure gate, he moved on to make a goat kill.
Being monitored round-the-clock by three teams of scientists fromWildlife Institute of India (WII) and the forest staff, the radio-collared tiger still has the easy option to continue on a goatdiet for a few days more. Like this morning when three goat baits wereput on three possible tracks, officials will continue to offer thetiger live baits till he shows definite signs of settling down. Ofcourse, the big cat has the freedom to go for wild prey available inplenty.
The decision of continuing with live bait, according to sources,overruled an alternative strategy considered earlier last week. Theidea was to keep the tiger hungry for a couple of days before releaseso that he did not wait looking for livestock and rushed to make awild kill.
In fact, the tiger's freedom was delayed after he made a goat killinside the enclosure on Wednesday. Subsequently, the arrival of thetigress on Friday and heavy pilgrim traffic on Saturday prolonged hisstay inside the enclosure.
Today, a team of WII scientists swung into action around 2-15 in themorning. They prepared a pug impression pad with fine dust and set upa camera trap at the gate of the enclosure to record the tiger's exit.Then the team waited for the first light of the day before opening the sliding gates of the enclosure at 4-30 in the morning. The tiger soon came striding and stepped out around 5-30 am.
After consuming the goat he killed at 6-30 am, the tiger spent hisearly hours of freedom in a leisurely survey of an area of about 2 sqkm between the enclosure and Kalighati. Later in the day, he made afew short trips up and down the hillocks. Under an overcast sky and intermittent drizzle, he seemed to have taken it easy the first day.
Meanwhile, the tigress is in good health inside her enclosure andexpected to make her first kill tonight. She was allowed to finish akill at Ranthambhore – one good meal lasts a big cat about three days-- before she was picked up on July 4. If both animals continue toshow normal behaviour, the tigress will be set free by Tuesday.
Sariska's first couple has a past
Lakrdah female, T10 male paired days before airlift
5 July, 2008 Hindustan Times
Big cats come with baggage. Before their fate brought them together to a new home in Sariska, the young animals had formed a pair. Many inRanthambhore spotted the Lakrda female mating with a robust collared tiger not far from Malik Talao – the same picturesque water body that made her mother famous as the Lady of the Lake – days before she was moved to Sariska. While some mistook the tiger for the Kachida male –one of Ranthambhore's many collared tigers – the bulkier frame was a giveaway. The Lakrda female's partner was none other than the T10 male, say forest sources, the tiger that preceded her to Sariska on June 28.
Early days still, but Sariska's first tigress just might be carrying her first litter from her old home. If she shows signs of pregnancy now and goes on to deliver, Sariska might have second generation oftigers much earlier than expected.
Usually a tigress takes 90-110 days from conception to delivery andthe pregnancy becomes apparent by the sixth week. Other signs ofconception include consumption of grass for folic acid, shrinking habitat and search for safe hideouts. However, both animals being relatively young, the Lakrda female might not get lucky this time. Bigcats show high rate of conception when the partners involved are olderthan five years.
But if the Lakrda female was indeed with the Kachida male, herpossible conception may not be good news after all. For male catsdon't tolerate cubs of other males. This typical male reaction is triggered by the fact that post-conception, a tigress doesn't matetill her cubs grow up, making herself out of bound for about two years. Though a male tiger show patience with his own cubs, hisnatural tendency is to kill the young ones of other males so that thetigresses concerned are available again. Tigresses do try to defendtheir cubs against new males, but, typically, the young ones are safeonly when they grow up in their father's territory. Every time the father male loses his territory to a rival male, the cubs are killed.
In Sariska, there will be no stopping the only male now. And if the Lakrda female indeed goes on to deliver the Kachida male's cubs, the T10 male – so called after her number in the Ranthambhore tiger index– surely won't wait watching the only tigress around bringing up someother tiger's cubs.
But there is hope even in such a scenario. Tigresses of exceptional craftiness are known for fooling their male counterparts. The Lakrda female's mother, the venerable Lady of the Lake, tricked many tigersand other adversaries to successfully raise nine tigers in fourlitters. To protect her first litter in a similar situation, she had been reported to have faked a false estrus to fool a male tiger andsaved her cubs. If the daughter can show half the skills, she will anyway have the T10 believe he is responsible for her litter.
5 July, 2008 Hindustan Times
Big cats come with baggage. Before their fate brought them together to a new home in Sariska, the young animals had formed a pair. Many inRanthambhore spotted the Lakrda female mating with a robust collared tiger not far from Malik Talao – the same picturesque water body that made her mother famous as the Lady of the Lake – days before she was moved to Sariska. While some mistook the tiger for the Kachida male –one of Ranthambhore's many collared tigers – the bulkier frame was a giveaway. The Lakrda female's partner was none other than the T10 male, say forest sources, the tiger that preceded her to Sariska on June 28.
Early days still, but Sariska's first tigress just might be carrying her first litter from her old home. If she shows signs of pregnancy now and goes on to deliver, Sariska might have second generation oftigers much earlier than expected.
Usually a tigress takes 90-110 days from conception to delivery andthe pregnancy becomes apparent by the sixth week. Other signs ofconception include consumption of grass for folic acid, shrinking habitat and search for safe hideouts. However, both animals being relatively young, the Lakrda female might not get lucky this time. Bigcats show high rate of conception when the partners involved are olderthan five years.
But if the Lakrda female was indeed with the Kachida male, herpossible conception may not be good news after all. For male catsdon't tolerate cubs of other males. This typical male reaction is triggered by the fact that post-conception, a tigress doesn't matetill her cubs grow up, making herself out of bound for about two years. Though a male tiger show patience with his own cubs, hisnatural tendency is to kill the young ones of other males so that thetigresses concerned are available again. Tigresses do try to defendtheir cubs against new males, but, typically, the young ones are safeonly when they grow up in their father's territory. Every time the father male loses his territory to a rival male, the cubs are killed.
In Sariska, there will be no stopping the only male now. And if the Lakrda female indeed goes on to deliver the Kachida male's cubs, the T10 male – so called after her number in the Ranthambhore tiger index– surely won't wait watching the only tigress around bringing up someother tiger's cubs.
But there is hope even in such a scenario. Tigresses of exceptional craftiness are known for fooling their male counterparts. The Lakrda female's mother, the venerable Lady of the Lake, tricked many tigersand other adversaries to successfully raise nine tigers in fourlitters. To protect her first litter in a similar situation, she had been reported to have faked a false estrus to fool a male tiger andsaved her cubs. If the daughter can show half the skills, she will anyway have the T10 believe he is responsible for her litter.
Sariska readies for some royal romance
Ranthambhore tigress reaches Sariska, first male set to walk free
4 July, 2008 Hindustan Times
With the safe release of a 170-kg, four-year-old Ranthambhore tigress– popularly known as the Lakrda female -- in the second enclosure at Naya Pani at the stroke of noon today, Sariska's first couple is now in place.
The tigress was sedated at 7 am this morning and waited till 11-15 when the chopper finally took off from Ranthambhore. She appeared in good health when she was released around 12 noon in Sariska. VP Singh, chief of Rajasthan's state tiger task force, told Hindustan Times that the forest department would try to fly in another tigress before the monsoon sets in.
Meanwhile, presumably waiting for a partner, the T10 male – rather unimaginatively identified after his position in Ranthambhore's tiger index -- has already made two kills since his arrival at Sariska. With forest officers wary that any more goat may spoil his prey preference permanently, he is all set to walk free later tonight or tomorrow.With a prayer that he doesn't stray outside the forest, a team of scientists from Wildlife Institute of India will track his movements round-the-clock.
However, the two big cats will have to wait before they can check eachother out in the wild. Like the T10 male introduced on June 28, the tigress will also spend a few days inside her enclosure before she isfreed.
Once the Lakrda female is let out, Sariska will hold its breadth forthe royal courtship to begin. Cats mate easily but occasionally certain pairs act stubborn. In the present case, the T10 male being arather young tiger, forest officials feel he may need a bit of mentoring.
But the Lakrda female – so named after her territory in Lakrda – is atigress of rare pedigree. She is one of the many daughters of thevenerable Lady of the Lake (again named after her territory) alias Machhli (fish mark on her skin), the tigress famous for successfully raising four litters. No doubt the forest officials can trust the Lakrda female to take effective early initiatives to repopulate Sariska.
4 July, 2008 Hindustan Times
With the safe release of a 170-kg, four-year-old Ranthambhore tigress– popularly known as the Lakrda female -- in the second enclosure at Naya Pani at the stroke of noon today, Sariska's first couple is now in place.
The tigress was sedated at 7 am this morning and waited till 11-15 when the chopper finally took off from Ranthambhore. She appeared in good health when she was released around 12 noon in Sariska. VP Singh, chief of Rajasthan's state tiger task force, told Hindustan Times that the forest department would try to fly in another tigress before the monsoon sets in.
Meanwhile, presumably waiting for a partner, the T10 male – rather unimaginatively identified after his position in Ranthambhore's tiger index -- has already made two kills since his arrival at Sariska. With forest officers wary that any more goat may spoil his prey preference permanently, he is all set to walk free later tonight or tomorrow.With a prayer that he doesn't stray outside the forest, a team of scientists from Wildlife Institute of India will track his movements round-the-clock.
However, the two big cats will have to wait before they can check eachother out in the wild. Like the T10 male introduced on June 28, the tigress will also spend a few days inside her enclosure before she isfreed.
Once the Lakrda female is let out, Sariska will hold its breadth forthe royal courtship to begin. Cats mate easily but occasionally certain pairs act stubborn. In the present case, the T10 male being arather young tiger, forest officials feel he may need a bit of mentoring.
But the Lakrda female – so named after her territory in Lakrda – is atigress of rare pedigree. She is one of the many daughters of thevenerable Lady of the Lake (again named after her territory) alias Machhli (fish mark on her skin), the tigress famous for successfully raising four litters. No doubt the forest officials can trust the Lakrda female to take effective early initiatives to repopulate Sariska.
Days after release, forest dept seeks bigger enclosure
3 July, 2008 HT IMPACT
Wary that Sariska's new tiger may stray in search of its lost territory at Ranthambhore if it is released out of its one-hectare enclosure too soon to avoid feeding it with live goats, The Rajasthanforest department is now considering the idea of introducing the tiger to a larger enclosure.
Today RN Mehrotra, Rajasthan's principal chief conservator of Forests, told PTI that the state department would soon decide whether to release the tiger to a wider enclosure from the present one at Naya Pani. He did not bother to explain why the department had opted for smaller enclosures in the first place.
However, sources said that the idea of constructing a bigger enclosure doesn't seem feasible at such a short notice, and the male tiger is likely to be let out of the enclosure before the arrival of the first tigress. Weather permitting, a tigress will reach Sariska in the next48 hours from Ranthambhore.
This comes two days after Hindustan Times had reported how, in atearing hurry to repopulate Sariska with tigers, the state authoritieshad cut down the size of the enclosure from a proposed minimum of eight hectares to just one hectare each. It had also reported how such a small enclosure with no wild prey naturally trapped inside, forcedthe forest staff to bait the tiger with live goats – a dangerous practice that, if prolonged, could change the big cat's natural preference for wild prey.
Meanwhile, the tiger made his second kill – another goat -- yesterdayand brisk movements indicated his sound health. It is, however, uncertain if the big cats will show any homing tendency until they are allowed to roam free.
Wary that Sariska's new tiger may stray in search of its lost territory at Ranthambhore if it is released out of its one-hectare enclosure too soon to avoid feeding it with live goats, The Rajasthanforest department is now considering the idea of introducing the tiger to a larger enclosure.
Today RN Mehrotra, Rajasthan's principal chief conservator of Forests, told PTI that the state department would soon decide whether to release the tiger to a wider enclosure from the present one at Naya Pani. He did not bother to explain why the department had opted for smaller enclosures in the first place.
However, sources said that the idea of constructing a bigger enclosure doesn't seem feasible at such a short notice, and the male tiger is likely to be let out of the enclosure before the arrival of the first tigress. Weather permitting, a tigress will reach Sariska in the next48 hours from Ranthambhore.
This comes two days after Hindustan Times had reported how, in atearing hurry to repopulate Sariska with tigers, the state authoritieshad cut down the size of the enclosure from a proposed minimum of eight hectares to just one hectare each. It had also reported how such a small enclosure with no wild prey naturally trapped inside, forcedthe forest staff to bait the tiger with live goats – a dangerous practice that, if prolonged, could change the big cat's natural preference for wild prey.
Meanwhile, the tiger made his second kill – another goat -- yesterdayand brisk movements indicated his sound health. It is, however, uncertain if the big cats will show any homing tendency until they are allowed to roam free.
Sariska tiger on goat diet
29 June, 2008 Hindustan Times
The new king of Sariska is doing fine. But he is, perhaps, being pampered too much for his own good.
Movements of the four-year-old tiger from Ranthambhore, tracked a day after his relocation, showed no sign of hangover from the drugs pumped into him yesterday. Within hours of walking inside the enclosure, he made a kill last night. Not that he had to work hard — the forest staff obliged their VIP guest with live bait.
But the catch lies in the nature of the bait. Since laws don’t permit the forest staff to capture wild animals to bait the tiger, they have settled for goats. But if the tiger gets used to his new diet, he is likely to target local livestock once he is allowed to roam free.
The field officials are in a dilemma. They agree that the tiger must be allowed to walk free as soon as possible. But how soon is soon enough? The big cat was put inside the enclosure to curb his natural homing tendency in this case, straying in search of his lost territory in Ranthambhore.
National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) chief Dr Rajesh Gopal, it seems, has decided to take a call. "Feeding a tiger for too long will affect its natural instincts. We have to take a chance. If the animal strays, the radio-collar is there for monitoring its movements," he said.
According to sources, NTCA will send a directive on Monday asking the state forest department to move the tiger out of the enclosure by Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Centre has cleared Rs 19.2 crore to expedite the relocation of two Sariska villages. The money will be released soon and will benefit more than 200 families of Umri and Kankwari.
Confirming this, Dr Gopal said: "Shifting these two villages will ensure a good stretch of undisturbed tiger territory in Sariska. Now that the first tiger is in, the state forest department must honour its commitment for a better habitat and a stricter protection regime. Relocation of villages and regulation of pilgrim traffic are the priorities."
The new king of Sariska is doing fine. But he is, perhaps, being pampered too much for his own good.
Movements of the four-year-old tiger from Ranthambhore, tracked a day after his relocation, showed no sign of hangover from the drugs pumped into him yesterday. Within hours of walking inside the enclosure, he made a kill last night. Not that he had to work hard — the forest staff obliged their VIP guest with live bait.
But the catch lies in the nature of the bait. Since laws don’t permit the forest staff to capture wild animals to bait the tiger, they have settled for goats. But if the tiger gets used to his new diet, he is likely to target local livestock once he is allowed to roam free.
The field officials are in a dilemma. They agree that the tiger must be allowed to walk free as soon as possible. But how soon is soon enough? The big cat was put inside the enclosure to curb his natural homing tendency in this case, straying in search of his lost territory in Ranthambhore.
National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) chief Dr Rajesh Gopal, it seems, has decided to take a call. "Feeding a tiger for too long will affect its natural instincts. We have to take a chance. If the animal strays, the radio-collar is there for monitoring its movements," he said.
According to sources, NTCA will send a directive on Monday asking the state forest department to move the tiger out of the enclosure by Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Centre has cleared Rs 19.2 crore to expedite the relocation of two Sariska villages. The money will be released soon and will benefit more than 200 families of Umri and Kankwari.
Confirming this, Dr Gopal said: "Shifting these two villages will ensure a good stretch of undisturbed tiger territory in Sariska. Now that the first tiger is in, the state forest department must honour its commitment for a better habitat and a stricter protection regime. Relocation of villages and regulation of pilgrim traffic are the priorities."
Roar Returns to Sariska
28 June, 2005 Hindustan Times
It had all the ingredients of a much-hyped cricket match delayed due to bad weather. A hungry crowd (in this case, a large media contingent), desperate officials (they have already missed two deadlines since June 15 due to an early monsoon), repeated ground inspections and frayed tempers.
Finally, the overnight showers that threatened to pour cold water on the government’s last-ditch effort, relented at 11 am. By 12.45 pm, a 220-kg, four-year-old Ranthambhore tiger gingerly walked out of a cage into his new home — a one-hectare chain-link enclosure at Nayapani in Sariska.
The tiger will be monitored in the enclosure for a few days and fed with live bait. The first of the five big cats to be shifted from Ranthambhore, the tiger is soon expected to have the company of a tigress and a rival male.
But it’s too early to predict if the striped cat will be able to reclaim this tiger forest. The suspense won’t be over even when, and if, all five animals are released. Sariska will have to wait for the second generation — a good litter — and keep fingers crossed till the cubs grow up.
Meanwhile, the large media contingent waited a kilometre away till they spotted the family of Rajasthan Forest Minister Pratap Singh Singhvi moving in to enjoy "the tiger show". A few uncomfortable questions later, the media were promised escorted access to the enclosures.
Finally, around 2 pm, reporters took turns in government vehicles to peep into the enclosure. The thick monsoon undergrowth made sure that the jetlagged tiger had his privacy.
It had all the ingredients of a much-hyped cricket match delayed due to bad weather. A hungry crowd (in this case, a large media contingent), desperate officials (they have already missed two deadlines since June 15 due to an early monsoon), repeated ground inspections and frayed tempers.
Finally, the overnight showers that threatened to pour cold water on the government’s last-ditch effort, relented at 11 am. By 12.45 pm, a 220-kg, four-year-old Ranthambhore tiger gingerly walked out of a cage into his new home — a one-hectare chain-link enclosure at Nayapani in Sariska.
The tiger will be monitored in the enclosure for a few days and fed with live bait. The first of the five big cats to be shifted from Ranthambhore, the tiger is soon expected to have the company of a tigress and a rival male.
But it’s too early to predict if the striped cat will be able to reclaim this tiger forest. The suspense won’t be over even when, and if, all five animals are released. Sariska will have to wait for the second generation — a good litter — and keep fingers crossed till the cubs grow up.
Meanwhile, the large media contingent waited a kilometre away till they spotted the family of Rajasthan Forest Minister Pratap Singh Singhvi moving in to enjoy "the tiger show". A few uncomfortable questions later, the media were promised escorted access to the enclosures.
Finally, around 2 pm, reporters took turns in government vehicles to peep into the enclosure. The thick monsoon undergrowth made sure that the jetlagged tiger had his privacy.
First tiger in but keep your fingers crossed
28 June, 2008, Hindustan Times
Those not given in to the hype surrounding the government's tiger translocation plan felt the rain stopped a bit too soon in Sariskathis morning; the skies cleared before time. And there is reason forthis sense of foreboding.
First, similar experiments with Amur tigers in Siberia showed that translocated tigers tended to move towards human habitations and trigger conflict. As a rule, animals shifted from their territory tendto home back – there are numerous examples of how translocated leopards, bears, elephants, even crocodiles, traveled hundreds of kilometers to come back to their original base. The present tigertranslocation exercise, the first of its kind in India, has gone infor the soft release option – shifting the animals first to an enclosure – to counter this factor.
Secondly, and more critically, conditions in Sariska that had led tothe local extinction of the striped cats due to poaching four yearsback remain pretty much the same. The Centre's approval for the translocation plan came with certain riders. But the state has managed to push ahead with the plan without bothering to meet these pre-conditions.
In a hurry to bring tigers from Ranthambhore before the monsoon the state even cut down on the size of the chain-link enclosures put upfor introduction of tigers from a proposed 8-10 hectares to just 1 hectare each. While sources cite the impending state elections and atop forest official nearing the end of his term as possible reasonsfor this emergency approach, consider the ground realities:
= Of the four strategically located forest villages – Kankwari,Kraska, Umri and Bagani -- that had to be shifted before any tigercould be released here, only Bagani, the smallest of the lot in termsof population and, therefore, impact on the wildlife, has beenrelocated so far.
= Busy pilgrim traffic for the Hanuman temple deep inside the reservestill flows unregulated on forest roads. Free entry inside the reserveand unrestricted vehicular movement makes it a thoroughfare everyTuesday and Saturday.
= The decision to divert heavy traffic from the state highway thatcuts through the reserve, to an alternative route is hanging fire inthe face of stiff resistance from local pressure groups.
= Though some of the staffers responsible for conceding all ofSariska's tigers to poachers have been shunted out, many of them werejust shuffled around locally and still serve at Sariska.
= Ex-servicemen deployed for protection at Sariska are an unhappy lotas their role is limited to helping forest guards. Many of these ex-servicemen complain that the guards on duty continue with their corrupt practices like illegal felling etc.
"Reintroduction is always a risky proposition for a number ofbiological factors. But the authorities must at least eliminate theexternal risk factors regarding habitation and protection to give thisexperiment its best chance to succeed," said Vidya Athreya, wildlife biologist and member of the IUCN CAT specialist group.
Those not given in to the hype surrounding the government's tiger translocation plan felt the rain stopped a bit too soon in Sariskathis morning; the skies cleared before time. And there is reason forthis sense of foreboding.
First, similar experiments with Amur tigers in Siberia showed that translocated tigers tended to move towards human habitations and trigger conflict. As a rule, animals shifted from their territory tendto home back – there are numerous examples of how translocated leopards, bears, elephants, even crocodiles, traveled hundreds of kilometers to come back to their original base. The present tigertranslocation exercise, the first of its kind in India, has gone infor the soft release option – shifting the animals first to an enclosure – to counter this factor.
Secondly, and more critically, conditions in Sariska that had led tothe local extinction of the striped cats due to poaching four yearsback remain pretty much the same. The Centre's approval for the translocation plan came with certain riders. But the state has managed to push ahead with the plan without bothering to meet these pre-conditions.
In a hurry to bring tigers from Ranthambhore before the monsoon the state even cut down on the size of the chain-link enclosures put upfor introduction of tigers from a proposed 8-10 hectares to just 1 hectare each. While sources cite the impending state elections and atop forest official nearing the end of his term as possible reasonsfor this emergency approach, consider the ground realities:
= Of the four strategically located forest villages – Kankwari,Kraska, Umri and Bagani -- that had to be shifted before any tigercould be released here, only Bagani, the smallest of the lot in termsof population and, therefore, impact on the wildlife, has beenrelocated so far.
= Busy pilgrim traffic for the Hanuman temple deep inside the reservestill flows unregulated on forest roads. Free entry inside the reserveand unrestricted vehicular movement makes it a thoroughfare everyTuesday and Saturday.
= The decision to divert heavy traffic from the state highway thatcuts through the reserve, to an alternative route is hanging fire inthe face of stiff resistance from local pressure groups.
= Though some of the staffers responsible for conceding all ofSariska's tigers to poachers have been shunted out, many of them werejust shuffled around locally and still serve at Sariska.
= Ex-servicemen deployed for protection at Sariska are an unhappy lotas their role is limited to helping forest guards. Many of these ex-servicemen complain that the guards on duty continue with their corrupt practices like illegal felling etc.
"Reintroduction is always a risky proposition for a number ofbiological factors. But the authorities must at least eliminate theexternal risk factors regarding habitation and protection to give thisexperiment its best chance to succeed," said Vidya Athreya, wildlife biologist and member of the IUCN CAT specialist group.
Sariska gets second chance with tigers
21 March, 2008 Hindustan Times
In a message intended to boost India’s losing battle to save its national animal, the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday cleared a plan to reintroduce tigers to Rajasthan’s Sariska tiger reserve, where the Royal Bengal Tiger’s local extinction in 2004 sparked worldwide alarm.
Three tigers — a male and two females — have been identified at the Ranthambhore tiger reserve, home to Rajasthan’s only surviving tiger population. Officials plan a "soft release": the three tigers will be first introduced in a 5-6 hectare enclosure within Sariska, a former hunting reserve of the Maharaja of Alwar. Scientists and officials will keep the new tigers under observation for a few weeks before they are fitted with tracking collars linked to an orbitting satellite and released into the scrub jungles of Sariska.
India first realised its tiger conservation programme was failing when Sariska lost all its tigers in 2004. Since then, a crisis has emerged with most reserves reporting declining numbers of Panthera tigris tigris, the scientific name of the Royal Bengal tiger.
"The process of financial clearance has already begun. The first installment of funds required for relocation is expected next week," said Dr Rajesh Gopal, member-secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
The PMO had set up a tiger task force after Sariska lost its tigers, and the Supreme Court asked the CBI to investigate what was happening. Eventually, Project Tiger, the national tiger-conservation programme, was given more powers and reborn as the NTCA and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau in 2006.
Today’s clearance comes with Rajasthan’s written commitment to fast-track a pending agenda: the relocation of villages, regulation of pilgrim traffic inside the reserve, and development of areas that serve as buffers between the core of the reserve and the outside world.
"We don’t want to reintroduce tigers before we feel it is safe," said Gopal. "The Centre has enhanced the relocation package to Rs 10 lakh per family. So far only one village has been relocated from Sariska. A lot remains to be done." The budget for the Sariska tiger recovery plan prepared by the Wildlife Institute of India is Rs 1.50 crore.
In a message intended to boost India’s losing battle to save its national animal, the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday cleared a plan to reintroduce tigers to Rajasthan’s Sariska tiger reserve, where the Royal Bengal Tiger’s local extinction in 2004 sparked worldwide alarm.
Three tigers — a male and two females — have been identified at the Ranthambhore tiger reserve, home to Rajasthan’s only surviving tiger population. Officials plan a "soft release": the three tigers will be first introduced in a 5-6 hectare enclosure within Sariska, a former hunting reserve of the Maharaja of Alwar. Scientists and officials will keep the new tigers under observation for a few weeks before they are fitted with tracking collars linked to an orbitting satellite and released into the scrub jungles of Sariska.
India first realised its tiger conservation programme was failing when Sariska lost all its tigers in 2004. Since then, a crisis has emerged with most reserves reporting declining numbers of Panthera tigris tigris, the scientific name of the Royal Bengal tiger.
"The process of financial clearance has already begun. The first installment of funds required for relocation is expected next week," said Dr Rajesh Gopal, member-secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
The PMO had set up a tiger task force after Sariska lost its tigers, and the Supreme Court asked the CBI to investigate what was happening. Eventually, Project Tiger, the national tiger-conservation programme, was given more powers and reborn as the NTCA and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau in 2006.
Today’s clearance comes with Rajasthan’s written commitment to fast-track a pending agenda: the relocation of villages, regulation of pilgrim traffic inside the reserve, and development of areas that serve as buffers between the core of the reserve and the outside world.
"We don’t want to reintroduce tigers before we feel it is safe," said Gopal. "The Centre has enhanced the relocation package to Rs 10 lakh per family. So far only one village has been relocated from Sariska. A lot remains to be done." The budget for the Sariska tiger recovery plan prepared by the Wildlife Institute of India is Rs 1.50 crore.
Tiger task force lands in Sariska, finds ‘degradation’
Field visit: Prime Minister’s panel asks villagers to restore the pride of Sariska, tells them they can’t allow thieves to rob homes
11 July, 2005 The Indian Express
Aurangazeb's 17th-century fort, built to exile Dara Shikoh, stands firm in the rain atop a craggy hillock. But the jungle around this troubled patch of the Sariska tiger reserve is vanishing, the ancient Kankwari village and adjoining settlements boast 150-plus families—in just 10 years, the population has almost doubled and the tigers are gone.
It was this ‘‘degradation’’ that greeted the five-member task force—set up by the Prime Minister to study the tiger crisis—in Sariska today. The force, headed by environmentalist Sunita Narain, reached here this morning on the first leg of their Rajasthan trip, the last field visit before its term ends on July 19.
The force was set up after the story of Sariska’s missing tigers was first reported in The Sunday Express in January followed by a series of reports in The Indian Express from other tiger reserves in the country.
Today, the task force members asked the villagers to restore the pride of Sariska: ‘‘This is your home, you can’t allow thieves here’’. The ground staff was reminded their responsibility and assured some help: ‘‘Ideal conditions don’t exist and India is a poor country’’. In between, the panel gathered vital information to shape their report to be submitted to the PM later this month.
Their previous stop was at Kalighati chowki where the panel grilled the forest ground staff.
The villagers claimed they were ready to move out if and when they got a good deal. The forest staff listed their demotivating woes—lack of infrastructure and equipment, inhuman working hours, stagnation, etc.
‘‘We came here to see how the state government fixes responsibility for the disappearance of the tiger here, to learn from those mistakes so that they are never repeated and chalk out an action plan for the reserve’s future,’’ said Narain.
Panel members Narain, Valmik Thapar, H.S. Panwar and Madhav Gadgil were accompanied by Project Tiger director Rajesh Gopal, Rajasthan chief wildlife warden R N Mehrotra and Magsaysay winner Rajinder Singh. Tomorrow, the team rushes to Ranthambore.
At the end of the hectic day, Thapar said he spotted ‘‘signs of rampant degradation’’ that supports his call for ‘‘urgent relocation of villages’’.
11 July, 2005 The Indian Express
Aurangazeb's 17th-century fort, built to exile Dara Shikoh, stands firm in the rain atop a craggy hillock. But the jungle around this troubled patch of the Sariska tiger reserve is vanishing, the ancient Kankwari village and adjoining settlements boast 150-plus families—in just 10 years, the population has almost doubled and the tigers are gone.
It was this ‘‘degradation’’ that greeted the five-member task force—set up by the Prime Minister to study the tiger crisis—in Sariska today. The force, headed by environmentalist Sunita Narain, reached here this morning on the first leg of their Rajasthan trip, the last field visit before its term ends on July 19.
The force was set up after the story of Sariska’s missing tigers was first reported in The Sunday Express in January followed by a series of reports in The Indian Express from other tiger reserves in the country.
Today, the task force members asked the villagers to restore the pride of Sariska: ‘‘This is your home, you can’t allow thieves here’’. The ground staff was reminded their responsibility and assured some help: ‘‘Ideal conditions don’t exist and India is a poor country’’. In between, the panel gathered vital information to shape their report to be submitted to the PM later this month.
Their previous stop was at Kalighati chowki where the panel grilled the forest ground staff.
The villagers claimed they were ready to move out if and when they got a good deal. The forest staff listed their demotivating woes—lack of infrastructure and equipment, inhuman working hours, stagnation, etc.
‘‘We came here to see how the state government fixes responsibility for the disappearance of the tiger here, to learn from those mistakes so that they are never repeated and chalk out an action plan for the reserve’s future,’’ said Narain.
Panel members Narain, Valmik Thapar, H.S. Panwar and Madhav Gadgil were accompanied by Project Tiger director Rajesh Gopal, Rajasthan chief wildlife warden R N Mehrotra and Magsaysay winner Rajinder Singh. Tomorrow, the team rushes to Ranthambore.
At the end of the hectic day, Thapar said he spotted ‘‘signs of rampant degradation’’ that supports his call for ‘‘urgent relocation of villages’’.
If Sariska Wasn't Enough
SANCTUARY ASIA, 2005
After Sariska, most of us believed that we were through with the worst in our history of conservation and things could only look up from that depth of disgrace. We were wrong. How else can we acknowledge the absurdity of the latest obfuscation of the real issue in the guise of tribal-versus-tiger politics. The controversy over the Tribal Bill draft is an assault on the collective common sense of the nation. Imagine a society divided over the perceived dichotomy between the interest of our tribals and that of our forests and wildlife. As we debate the obvious, the clock ticks louder by the minute for our tigers.
Nobody comes clean in this game of one-upmanship. If it is between the future of our forest resources and the immediate appeasement of the tribals, no Indian needs to guess which way the political clock swings. Tribals vote. And when a handful of Parliamentarians dare point out that the forests may not have any electoral value but their well being is integral to our future water and food security, they are ridiculed as upper caste elites who are anyway supposed to be ‘anti-tribal’.
Our bureaucracy only bothers about control. The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 have been the eyesore of the bureaucrats of babudom. They regret that these laws have largely insulated our forest reserves from bureaucratic tinkering. Earlier, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) officials themselves tried to float the Biodiversity Act, 2002 as an umbrella legislation, but failed when finally it was made subservient to the The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. It is poetic justice that they are now fighting another ministry to ‘save’ the same forests they seemed so willing to undermine only yesterday.
We must accept that there is no black-and-white situation at hand. Tribal or non-tribal, forest-dwellers are now surviving at the mercy of the sarkari ground staff. Almost everywhere, they need to routinely bribe them to ensure their livelihood. Nobody can justify forcing the tribals to pay the entire cost of conservation. If our forest resources are saved, the benefits reach every Indian. So it is our national responsibility to look after those who lose their traditional livelihood in the process.
But then ‘rights’ to forests will be a retrograde move. Just because we have not been able to find a dignified space for the tribals in the larger paradigm of conservation, we can’t suddenly leave crores of them to subsist on vanishing jungles, which if nurtured and utilised scientifically, will yield enough economic benefits to sustain them for generations to come.
We must examine a number of models working well in different pockets of India. There is no dearth of ground expertise and experience either. What we need are better policies and management that not only protect our mega-diversity but also tap its economic potential and then in turn, adequately addresses the livelihood concerns of tribals.
Discouraging direct subsistence on forest resources is not denying the tribals their rights. The forests belong to them. But their future will be secure only if they have an option to live on the interest and leave the capital untouched.
Considering how ad-hocism rules our system, it is natural that very few in the government bother to work on any long-term solution. But the Tiger Task Force recently appointed by the Prime Minister, must bite the bullet. Apart from addressing the fundamentals of habitat protection, it must ensure a degree of transparency and accountability in forest management. The ‘number game’ must end and we have to take a realistic call on the true status of the tiger on the ground.
The so-called protected forests are usually out of bounds for non-government professionals. Even otherwise, it is difficult to prove how the tiger figures are fudged unless we reach a point when no tiger is spotted in a particular habitat. Till then, sarkari managers will keep counting more tiger per tiger. The Task Force must put in place a professional system that boldly sounds early alarms when it senses a crisis. There is little hope unless we can do away with this criminally indulgent set-up that claimed 24 tigers in Sariska only months before the big cats were wiped out from the Reserve.
Blowing the Sariska whistle
I didn’t want to believe it but I could sense the truth. Even before I met Ramji Lal. It was my third trip to Sariska in two months. I have been a regular at the Reserve for many years and learnt to understand this jungle in bits and pieces. I knew water dries up in these hills by October and animals must descend. I knew leopards don’t roam the tiger territory so fearlessly. I knew the Gypsy-taxi drivers and the forest guards were lying. Then on my last night, Ramji Lal ambled out of the darkness and joined us – a small group of friends – for dinner outside a dhaba on the Alwar highway. Next day, as we drove back to Delhi, we kept chewing on Ramji Lal’s parting shot: "Forget sighting tigers, I have friends among forest guards and they don’t even find pugmarks these days."
Back in Delhi, I tried to piece together the data. Officials in Jaipur laughed off my query. The Project Tiger Directorate accepted Sariska was not the best tiger reserve but nothing more. Dr. Ullas Karanth had not "heard anything". Valmik Thapar was "out of touch" with Sariska but he had "heard such rumours". P.K. Sen almost challenged me: "The situation is very bad but how will you prove there are no tigers?" Frankly, I didn’t know. Not at that point of time.
Some legwork and within a fortnight, I was back in Sariska. It was difficult to miss the fear in the air. The Gypsy drivers sat huddled in worry. They might be out of business soon. Hoteliers tried to look brave. The guards on ground panicked even at routine questions. The forest officials groped for some explanation. The department bigwigs would start descending any day and no theory stood as yet.
I knew the visitor’s log book at the forest gate – where it is mandatory to enter all tiger sightings – was my best chance for proof. And perhaps a sincere soul or two would come on record. My first day was spent with Assistant Field Director, B.M. Sharma. Together, we combed the jungle for hours. Finally, Sharma confessed. He had not seen any tiger since June 2004!
My first attempt at checking the log book backfired as the guard on duty got suspicious. Late that evening, I invited a few members of the ground staff to the deserted Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation bar. A few drinks later, I told them a story they had to refute. I knew they would need the log book to prove their point. Once the log book was summoned, I thoroughly checked it while marking relevant pages as the guards argued to establish their point against my imaginary story. Half an hour on, I knew they wouldn’t mind if my photo-journalist colleague Cherian Thomas clicked a few pages.
The log book didn’t lie. The peak winter season (December-January) reported nine sightings in 2002-03, and 17 in 2003-04. Then till May, six or seven sightings were reported each month. The number dropped to three in July.
Then came the monsoon. And with it, perhaps, a few bad men. Traditionally, animals including tigers disperse to the hills due to abundance of water during July-August before returning in October to the plains for scarce water and prey.
Last year, the wait continued. Tourists Poonam and Nishit claimed one sighting in September 2004. The last report was on November 11, 2004 by Nick and Dork Simpson from London who thought they glimpsed a tiger "through the trees" – a claim even the forest guards discounted.
Next day, I spent two hours with Deputy Field Director, Priyo Ranjan, who had taken charge in September 2004. I had to keep going at him before he admitted that neither he nor any other forest official had seen any tigers in Sariska since he had joined. Nor had a few 1,000 villagers in the 11 villages still located inside the Park.
I travelled extensively across the jungle. Everybody avoided the P-word. At Umri, a village of 100 families inside the core area, villagers dodged hard before giving in gingerly: "They come regularly, carrying arms. We have tried informing the forest guards. But we have no security. The outsiders hold us at gunpoint and warn us against opening our mouths." Where did these poachers come from? "From outside. Villages like Baroli, Baleta, Kharada." And what did they kill? "Sambars." Tigers? Suddenly, villagers clammed up, went almost deaf. The story was repeated in other villages, Rathakala, Kankwari and at Kraska. Villagers just couldn’t remember when they had seen or heard a tiger last.
I wanted to assess the standard of protection, too. During a night patrol to Siliberi chowki (guard hut), N.K. Gupta, Ranger, Flying Squad, and his men spent 15 minutes creating a ruckus to wake up the staff inside. "This is the most troubled area and look at them. A couple of them are even missing on duty," a livid Gupta said. A couple of other chowkies seemed a little more alert. But it was not easy motivating the ground staff, most of whom were old and demoralised. By the time I left for Delhi, many at Sariska realised I knew their secret. Forest Guard Uday Bhan Nadar presented us with old plaster casts of tiger pugmarks. "What will you write? That there are no tigers here?" he whispered. Nadar didn’t look me in the eye.
On the highway, I met Gypsy driver Om Prakash who was waiting for me to ask if tigers could be released there from other jungles. He mumbled after a pause: "Kya pata, shayad ek-do abhi bhi hain kahin chhupa hua (Who knows one or two might still be hidden somewhere)." I lit up, told our driver to speed off. Not often do you wish that the story you have been chasing round-the-clock would prove to be wrong.
On January 22, 2005, we were ready with the Sariska story – the first in a series – that set me on the tiger trail. The Indian Express campaign forced other media houses to pick up the issue, generated strong public opinion and moved the Prime Minister to set up a new Tiger Task Force. The Supreme Court also stepped in, asking the Centre to hand over all poaching cases to the CBI.
Fast Forward
That, however, remains only a small, immediate victory for the cause of conservation. The big battle has to be fought every single day. From my limited field experience, I am convinced that even in the best-managed parks, tigers will continue to be killed as humans try to resolve human-animal conflicts, and make a packet in the process. This raises a fundamental question: in today’s circumstances is human-animal coexistence even feasible?
Young tigers leave their mother around the age of two, to be on their own; and the young adult’s search for home range usually takes him/her to the extreme peripheries of the jungle, where the challenges of life could mean death. A relatively-inexperienced tiger could die in combat with a more powerful resident tiger, or be pushed out of the protected jungle to become an easy target for irate villagers, who often take the first opportunity to eliminate the animal for their own perceived safety. This is the context in which the proposed Tribal Bill must be weighed. At the time of going to press, the Tiger Task Force is travelling across the country and talking to all manner of experts. But its composition seems designed to create more confusion than clarity. The Chairman has already gone on record on a private news channel to say that arming forest guards is a mistake as such arms will be used to subdue villagers whose support must be canvassed for the tiger (she didn’t elaborate how).
Eventually perhaps all of us must adjust to our fate and that of the tiger. We face a situation where tiger populations across the country are going to fall. Populations are going to be isolated, prior to being pushed to local extinction. Perhaps we will have to consider ourselves lucky if we can save tigers only in pockets of old growth forests reasonably insulated from human interference. On paper, the majority of our tigers still survive outside reserves today, but in my view, given the current political attitudes, their days are numbered.
Hopefully, I will be proved wrong. Hopefully, the Tiger Task Force will rise above petty politics and fiercely protect the sanctity of our national parks and sanctuaries and their connecting corridors and buffers, thus ensuring some space between wild and human habitats. And hopefully, if this miracle occurs, the report of this Tiger Task Force will not meet the same fate as most others – the dustbin. Till then the countdown to the complete extinction of Panthera tigris continues.
After Sariska, most of us believed that we were through with the worst in our history of conservation and things could only look up from that depth of disgrace. We were wrong. How else can we acknowledge the absurdity of the latest obfuscation of the real issue in the guise of tribal-versus-tiger politics. The controversy over the Tribal Bill draft is an assault on the collective common sense of the nation. Imagine a society divided over the perceived dichotomy between the interest of our tribals and that of our forests and wildlife. As we debate the obvious, the clock ticks louder by the minute for our tigers.
Nobody comes clean in this game of one-upmanship. If it is between the future of our forest resources and the immediate appeasement of the tribals, no Indian needs to guess which way the political clock swings. Tribals vote. And when a handful of Parliamentarians dare point out that the forests may not have any electoral value but their well being is integral to our future water and food security, they are ridiculed as upper caste elites who are anyway supposed to be ‘anti-tribal’.
Our bureaucracy only bothers about control. The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 have been the eyesore of the bureaucrats of babudom. They regret that these laws have largely insulated our forest reserves from bureaucratic tinkering. Earlier, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) officials themselves tried to float the Biodiversity Act, 2002 as an umbrella legislation, but failed when finally it was made subservient to the The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. It is poetic justice that they are now fighting another ministry to ‘save’ the same forests they seemed so willing to undermine only yesterday.
We must accept that there is no black-and-white situation at hand. Tribal or non-tribal, forest-dwellers are now surviving at the mercy of the sarkari ground staff. Almost everywhere, they need to routinely bribe them to ensure their livelihood. Nobody can justify forcing the tribals to pay the entire cost of conservation. If our forest resources are saved, the benefits reach every Indian. So it is our national responsibility to look after those who lose their traditional livelihood in the process.
But then ‘rights’ to forests will be a retrograde move. Just because we have not been able to find a dignified space for the tribals in the larger paradigm of conservation, we can’t suddenly leave crores of them to subsist on vanishing jungles, which if nurtured and utilised scientifically, will yield enough economic benefits to sustain them for generations to come.
We must examine a number of models working well in different pockets of India. There is no dearth of ground expertise and experience either. What we need are better policies and management that not only protect our mega-diversity but also tap its economic potential and then in turn, adequately addresses the livelihood concerns of tribals.
Discouraging direct subsistence on forest resources is not denying the tribals their rights. The forests belong to them. But their future will be secure only if they have an option to live on the interest and leave the capital untouched.
Considering how ad-hocism rules our system, it is natural that very few in the government bother to work on any long-term solution. But the Tiger Task Force recently appointed by the Prime Minister, must bite the bullet. Apart from addressing the fundamentals of habitat protection, it must ensure a degree of transparency and accountability in forest management. The ‘number game’ must end and we have to take a realistic call on the true status of the tiger on the ground.
The so-called protected forests are usually out of bounds for non-government professionals. Even otherwise, it is difficult to prove how the tiger figures are fudged unless we reach a point when no tiger is spotted in a particular habitat. Till then, sarkari managers will keep counting more tiger per tiger. The Task Force must put in place a professional system that boldly sounds early alarms when it senses a crisis. There is little hope unless we can do away with this criminally indulgent set-up that claimed 24 tigers in Sariska only months before the big cats were wiped out from the Reserve.
Blowing the Sariska whistle
I didn’t want to believe it but I could sense the truth. Even before I met Ramji Lal. It was my third trip to Sariska in two months. I have been a regular at the Reserve for many years and learnt to understand this jungle in bits and pieces. I knew water dries up in these hills by October and animals must descend. I knew leopards don’t roam the tiger territory so fearlessly. I knew the Gypsy-taxi drivers and the forest guards were lying. Then on my last night, Ramji Lal ambled out of the darkness and joined us – a small group of friends – for dinner outside a dhaba on the Alwar highway. Next day, as we drove back to Delhi, we kept chewing on Ramji Lal’s parting shot: "Forget sighting tigers, I have friends among forest guards and they don’t even find pugmarks these days."
Back in Delhi, I tried to piece together the data. Officials in Jaipur laughed off my query. The Project Tiger Directorate accepted Sariska was not the best tiger reserve but nothing more. Dr. Ullas Karanth had not "heard anything". Valmik Thapar was "out of touch" with Sariska but he had "heard such rumours". P.K. Sen almost challenged me: "The situation is very bad but how will you prove there are no tigers?" Frankly, I didn’t know. Not at that point of time.
Some legwork and within a fortnight, I was back in Sariska. It was difficult to miss the fear in the air. The Gypsy drivers sat huddled in worry. They might be out of business soon. Hoteliers tried to look brave. The guards on ground panicked even at routine questions. The forest officials groped for some explanation. The department bigwigs would start descending any day and no theory stood as yet.
I knew the visitor’s log book at the forest gate – where it is mandatory to enter all tiger sightings – was my best chance for proof. And perhaps a sincere soul or two would come on record. My first day was spent with Assistant Field Director, B.M. Sharma. Together, we combed the jungle for hours. Finally, Sharma confessed. He had not seen any tiger since June 2004!
My first attempt at checking the log book backfired as the guard on duty got suspicious. Late that evening, I invited a few members of the ground staff to the deserted Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation bar. A few drinks later, I told them a story they had to refute. I knew they would need the log book to prove their point. Once the log book was summoned, I thoroughly checked it while marking relevant pages as the guards argued to establish their point against my imaginary story. Half an hour on, I knew they wouldn’t mind if my photo-journalist colleague Cherian Thomas clicked a few pages.
The log book didn’t lie. The peak winter season (December-January) reported nine sightings in 2002-03, and 17 in 2003-04. Then till May, six or seven sightings were reported each month. The number dropped to three in July.
Then came the monsoon. And with it, perhaps, a few bad men. Traditionally, animals including tigers disperse to the hills due to abundance of water during July-August before returning in October to the plains for scarce water and prey.
Last year, the wait continued. Tourists Poonam and Nishit claimed one sighting in September 2004. The last report was on November 11, 2004 by Nick and Dork Simpson from London who thought they glimpsed a tiger "through the trees" – a claim even the forest guards discounted.
Next day, I spent two hours with Deputy Field Director, Priyo Ranjan, who had taken charge in September 2004. I had to keep going at him before he admitted that neither he nor any other forest official had seen any tigers in Sariska since he had joined. Nor had a few 1,000 villagers in the 11 villages still located inside the Park.
I travelled extensively across the jungle. Everybody avoided the P-word. At Umri, a village of 100 families inside the core area, villagers dodged hard before giving in gingerly: "They come regularly, carrying arms. We have tried informing the forest guards. But we have no security. The outsiders hold us at gunpoint and warn us against opening our mouths." Where did these poachers come from? "From outside. Villages like Baroli, Baleta, Kharada." And what did they kill? "Sambars." Tigers? Suddenly, villagers clammed up, went almost deaf. The story was repeated in other villages, Rathakala, Kankwari and at Kraska. Villagers just couldn’t remember when they had seen or heard a tiger last.
I wanted to assess the standard of protection, too. During a night patrol to Siliberi chowki (guard hut), N.K. Gupta, Ranger, Flying Squad, and his men spent 15 minutes creating a ruckus to wake up the staff inside. "This is the most troubled area and look at them. A couple of them are even missing on duty," a livid Gupta said. A couple of other chowkies seemed a little more alert. But it was not easy motivating the ground staff, most of whom were old and demoralised. By the time I left for Delhi, many at Sariska realised I knew their secret. Forest Guard Uday Bhan Nadar presented us with old plaster casts of tiger pugmarks. "What will you write? That there are no tigers here?" he whispered. Nadar didn’t look me in the eye.
On the highway, I met Gypsy driver Om Prakash who was waiting for me to ask if tigers could be released there from other jungles. He mumbled after a pause: "Kya pata, shayad ek-do abhi bhi hain kahin chhupa hua (Who knows one or two might still be hidden somewhere)." I lit up, told our driver to speed off. Not often do you wish that the story you have been chasing round-the-clock would prove to be wrong.
On January 22, 2005, we were ready with the Sariska story – the first in a series – that set me on the tiger trail. The Indian Express campaign forced other media houses to pick up the issue, generated strong public opinion and moved the Prime Minister to set up a new Tiger Task Force. The Supreme Court also stepped in, asking the Centre to hand over all poaching cases to the CBI.
Fast Forward
That, however, remains only a small, immediate victory for the cause of conservation. The big battle has to be fought every single day. From my limited field experience, I am convinced that even in the best-managed parks, tigers will continue to be killed as humans try to resolve human-animal conflicts, and make a packet in the process. This raises a fundamental question: in today’s circumstances is human-animal coexistence even feasible?
Young tigers leave their mother around the age of two, to be on their own; and the young adult’s search for home range usually takes him/her to the extreme peripheries of the jungle, where the challenges of life could mean death. A relatively-inexperienced tiger could die in combat with a more powerful resident tiger, or be pushed out of the protected jungle to become an easy target for irate villagers, who often take the first opportunity to eliminate the animal for their own perceived safety. This is the context in which the proposed Tribal Bill must be weighed. At the time of going to press, the Tiger Task Force is travelling across the country and talking to all manner of experts. But its composition seems designed to create more confusion than clarity. The Chairman has already gone on record on a private news channel to say that arming forest guards is a mistake as such arms will be used to subdue villagers whose support must be canvassed for the tiger (she didn’t elaborate how).
Eventually perhaps all of us must adjust to our fate and that of the tiger. We face a situation where tiger populations across the country are going to fall. Populations are going to be isolated, prior to being pushed to local extinction. Perhaps we will have to consider ourselves lucky if we can save tigers only in pockets of old growth forests reasonably insulated from human interference. On paper, the majority of our tigers still survive outside reserves today, but in my view, given the current political attitudes, their days are numbered.
Hopefully, I will be proved wrong. Hopefully, the Tiger Task Force will rise above petty politics and fiercely protect the sanctity of our national parks and sanctuaries and their connecting corridors and buffers, thus ensuring some space between wild and human habitats. And hopefully, if this miracle occurs, the report of this Tiger Task Force will not meet the same fate as most others – the dustbin. Till then the countdown to the complete extinction of Panthera tigris continues.
Why not CBI probe tiger crisis: SC asks Centre
4 May, 2005
Three months after The Sunday Express first reported on the missing tigers of Sariska, the Supreme Court has sought the Centre’s response on a plea demanding a CBI inquiry into the large-scale disappearance of the animal from Project Tiger reserves across the country.
Issuing notice to the Centre, a bench comprising Justice Y K Sabharwal, Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice S H Kapadia asked why the CBI should not be directed to probe all tiger reserves that face a crisis similar to the one in Sariska.
The bench was acting on a petition sent through post by wildlife expert Ashok Kumar, who has been a member of the Project Tiger steering committee for two terms.
‘‘The primary cause of decline in tiger population in quite a few tiger reserves is organised poaching, masterminded by wildlife traders in collaboration with local networks,’’ the petition said.
Following a series of reports in The Indian Express and The Sunday Express, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had set up a task force on the issue with a CBI probe confirming the Express report on zero sightings in Sariska.
In his petition, Kumar has specifically sought a probe in reserves—including Ranthambhore in Rajasthan, Panna and Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh —and national parks and sanctuaries at Dudwa and Kanha (Madhya Pradesh), Palamu (Jharkhand) and Nagarjun Sagar-Srisalam (Andhra Pradesh).
The petitioner has sought the court’s direction to empower the probe team to register criminal cases for investigation pertaining to poaching and other irregularities in different tiger reserves. Kumar has also submitted that members of the probe team should not be changed without the permission of the court.
The court will take up the matter again tomorrow.
Three months after The Sunday Express first reported on the missing tigers of Sariska, the Supreme Court has sought the Centre’s response on a plea demanding a CBI inquiry into the large-scale disappearance of the animal from Project Tiger reserves across the country.
Issuing notice to the Centre, a bench comprising Justice Y K Sabharwal, Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice S H Kapadia asked why the CBI should not be directed to probe all tiger reserves that face a crisis similar to the one in Sariska.
The bench was acting on a petition sent through post by wildlife expert Ashok Kumar, who has been a member of the Project Tiger steering committee for two terms.
‘‘The primary cause of decline in tiger population in quite a few tiger reserves is organised poaching, masterminded by wildlife traders in collaboration with local networks,’’ the petition said.
Following a series of reports in The Indian Express and The Sunday Express, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had set up a task force on the issue with a CBI probe confirming the Express report on zero sightings in Sariska.
In his petition, Kumar has specifically sought a probe in reserves—including Ranthambhore in Rajasthan, Panna and Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh —and national parks and sanctuaries at Dudwa and Kanha (Madhya Pradesh), Palamu (Jharkhand) and Nagarjun Sagar-Srisalam (Andhra Pradesh).
The petitioner has sought the court’s direction to empower the probe team to register criminal cases for investigation pertaining to poaching and other irregularities in different tiger reserves. Kumar has also submitted that members of the probe team should not be changed without the permission of the court.
The court will take up the matter again tomorrow.
PM orders task force on tiger status
17 March, 2005
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today decided to constitute a Task Force on the Status of Tigers. He was chairing the meeting of the National Board for Wildlife, convened after 17 months, following The Indian Express report on the missing tigers in Sariska.The PM has also assured the members that he will consider ‘‘the unanimity among the members for constituting two separate secretariats’’—one for wildlife and forest and another for environment—and take up the issue with the Ministry of Environment and Forest.
‘‘The meeting was very positive and the members could express their concern and raise all the issues of importance. I am happy that the Prime Minister has initiated strong action in the right direction,’’ says Valmik Thapar, member of the board, after the meeting.
Agrees Board member Ravi Singh, secretary general and CEO, WWF India: ‘‘It was a very constructive meeting. What the PM has done is good for the tiger, wildlife, our forests and the country. I am absolutely satisfied.’’
According to a press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, Singh approved the following decisions of the Board today:
= To constitute a Task Force On the Status of Tigers in wildlife parks across the country.
In response to alarming reports of the disappearance of tigers, the Prime Minister had already ordered a CBI enquiry. The proposed Task Force will include forest officials, representatives of civil society and wildlife experts. The Task Force will be asked to give a report on the current status of Project Tiger and the status of tigers in wildlife parks.
= The Prime Minister also accepted the Board’s suggestion to establish a National Wildlife Crime Prevention and Control Bureau.
= The PM also informed the Board that the Government will ban any gift of animals by the head of state/government to other heads of state/government or foreign zoos.
The Board also gave its approval to allow access into protected forest areas for professional researchers for purposes of carrying out scientific research.
The Board also decided to commission a special study on the status of vultures, in the light of reports of the threat of extinction of vultures.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today decided to constitute a Task Force on the Status of Tigers. He was chairing the meeting of the National Board for Wildlife, convened after 17 months, following The Indian Express report on the missing tigers in Sariska.The PM has also assured the members that he will consider ‘‘the unanimity among the members for constituting two separate secretariats’’—one for wildlife and forest and another for environment—and take up the issue with the Ministry of Environment and Forest.
‘‘The meeting was very positive and the members could express their concern and raise all the issues of importance. I am happy that the Prime Minister has initiated strong action in the right direction,’’ says Valmik Thapar, member of the board, after the meeting.
Agrees Board member Ravi Singh, secretary general and CEO, WWF India: ‘‘It was a very constructive meeting. What the PM has done is good for the tiger, wildlife, our forests and the country. I am absolutely satisfied.’’
According to a press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, Singh approved the following decisions of the Board today:
= To constitute a Task Force On the Status of Tigers in wildlife parks across the country.
In response to alarming reports of the disappearance of tigers, the Prime Minister had already ordered a CBI enquiry. The proposed Task Force will include forest officials, representatives of civil society and wildlife experts. The Task Force will be asked to give a report on the current status of Project Tiger and the status of tigers in wildlife parks.
= The Prime Minister also accepted the Board’s suggestion to establish a National Wildlife Crime Prevention and Control Bureau.
= The PM also informed the Board that the Government will ban any gift of animals by the head of state/government to other heads of state/government or foreign zoos.
The Board also gave its approval to allow access into protected forest areas for professional researchers for purposes of carrying out scientific research.
The Board also decided to commission a special study on the status of vultures, in the light of reports of the threat of extinction of vultures.
Trapped in Sariska, poachers confess: We killed 10 tigers
16 March, 2005
A gang of suspected poachers have confessed to killing at least 10 tigers in Sariska during 2002-2004. Five of these tigers, say Forest Ministry sources, were killed during the monsoon of 2004 alone. While one tiger was shot dead using buffalo bait, the rest were trapped with metal traps before being killed. Three members of the gang, who are currently in custody, have also confessed to killing leopards in the Reserve. Sources say the number of hunts were too many for the gang to recall in detail.
These suspected poachers were arrested during intensive raids by forest officials and police conducted after The Sunday Express reported on the missing tigers on January 23. They were subsequently questioned by police, top forest officials and even Rajasthan Forest Minister Laxmi Narayan Dave.
Though police refused to part with any information at this point of investigation, sources in the Ministry say the interrogation team has also obtained documentary evidence to support the confession. ''We have recorded these confessions. But we are after a few key members of the gang who are still on the run. Once we get them, we will be able to build the case,'' says R P Kapoor, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Rajasthan.
''This is a good lead for the CBI team to take up the investigation and bust the entire network,'' say Ministry sources. It's learnt that the CBI has formed a Special Investigation Team to probe the Sariska tiger crisis-following a PMO recommendation-with Qamar Qureshi of the Wildlife Institute of India and Sanjeev Chhadha of the Ministry of Environment and Forest among the members. Meanwhile, the Empowered Committee for Forests and Wildlife set up by the Rajasthan government on February 27 has declared a ''red alert and emergency'' in the Ranthambhore Reserve, after affirming that the Sariska tigers have been ''completely wiped out by poachers''.
Says V P Singh, BJP MP from Bhilwara and chairman of the committee: ''After our site visits to Sariska and subsequent arrests and interrogation, it is quite clear that the tigers there were killed by poachers. Early information indicates that the poaching gangs in Sariska had connections to others camped in Ranthambhore. Though the state government has given us three months, we have already made some interim recommendations for Ranthambhore that must be implemented immediately.''
The commitee's recommendations include:
= 100 extra guards
= Intensive patrolling - particularly on foot and during night
= Rigorous raids on suspected poachers' camps o Allocation of secret funds for intelligence gathering.
The committee, says Singh, will join the experts of the Wildlife Institute of India in the tiger census coming up in the third week of May this year to ascertain the actual numbers of the tigers in Ranthambhore and to determine if any tiger has survived in Sariska.
''We won't give up once our tenure ends. We will demand an implementation committee to monitor whether our recommendations are being carried out. This panel should report to the Assembly every six months,'' says Singh, who is also a member of the Project Tiger Steering Committee.
A gang of suspected poachers have confessed to killing at least 10 tigers in Sariska during 2002-2004. Five of these tigers, say Forest Ministry sources, were killed during the monsoon of 2004 alone. While one tiger was shot dead using buffalo bait, the rest were trapped with metal traps before being killed. Three members of the gang, who are currently in custody, have also confessed to killing leopards in the Reserve. Sources say the number of hunts were too many for the gang to recall in detail.
These suspected poachers were arrested during intensive raids by forest officials and police conducted after The Sunday Express reported on the missing tigers on January 23. They were subsequently questioned by police, top forest officials and even Rajasthan Forest Minister Laxmi Narayan Dave.
Though police refused to part with any information at this point of investigation, sources in the Ministry say the interrogation team has also obtained documentary evidence to support the confession. ''We have recorded these confessions. But we are after a few key members of the gang who are still on the run. Once we get them, we will be able to build the case,'' says R P Kapoor, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Rajasthan.
''This is a good lead for the CBI team to take up the investigation and bust the entire network,'' say Ministry sources. It's learnt that the CBI has formed a Special Investigation Team to probe the Sariska tiger crisis-following a PMO recommendation-with Qamar Qureshi of the Wildlife Institute of India and Sanjeev Chhadha of the Ministry of Environment and Forest among the members. Meanwhile, the Empowered Committee for Forests and Wildlife set up by the Rajasthan government on February 27 has declared a ''red alert and emergency'' in the Ranthambhore Reserve, after affirming that the Sariska tigers have been ''completely wiped out by poachers''.
Says V P Singh, BJP MP from Bhilwara and chairman of the committee: ''After our site visits to Sariska and subsequent arrests and interrogation, it is quite clear that the tigers there were killed by poachers. Early information indicates that the poaching gangs in Sariska had connections to others camped in Ranthambhore. Though the state government has given us three months, we have already made some interim recommendations for Ranthambhore that must be implemented immediately.''
The commitee's recommendations include:
= 100 extra guards
= Intensive patrolling - particularly on foot and during night
= Rigorous raids on suspected poachers' camps o Allocation of secret funds for intelligence gathering.
The committee, says Singh, will join the experts of the Wildlife Institute of India in the tiger census coming up in the third week of May this year to ascertain the actual numbers of the tigers in Ranthambhore and to determine if any tiger has survived in Sariska.
''We won't give up once our tenure ends. We will demand an implementation committee to monitor whether our recommendations are being carried out. This panel should report to the Assembly every six months,'' says Singh, who is also a member of the Project Tiger Steering Committee.
Ministry keeps poaching out of agenda for PM’s tiger meeting
8 March, 2005
If you thought poaching should top the agenda when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh convenes the National Board for Wildlife on March 17, ostensibly to discuss the ‘‘biggest tiger crisis ever’’, think again.
In the agenda paper prepared by the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), the word poaching doesn’t figure at all.
And this omission is deliberate.
Justifying the omission of the P-word, Dr Prodipto Ghosh, Secretary, MoEF, says: ‘‘Poaching has to be established first. Investigations are on.’’
But that opinion is not shared by wildlife experts, including current and former members of the wildlife board.
Says Dr Ullas Karanth, member, Project Tiger Steering Committee, and ex-member of the Board: ‘‘Come on, who they are trying to fool? Almost every tiger reserve is facing the problem of poaching. There are cases registered which suffer from bad prosecution. The Ministry has never been serious. I don’t expect any transparency from them any more.’’
A number of members of the Board—a statutory body under the chairmanship of the PM—are livid but hesitate to come on record before the meet, which is being convened after more than a year.
But not tiger expert Valmik Thapar: ‘‘In the agenda notes, there is a 3-page description on the state of the tiger and specially the problems of Sariska. It is shocking that there is not a mention of the word poaching. The PM has asked the Rajasthan CM to fix responsibility for the disappearance of the tiger. What does it mean? Have tigers vanished taking some migratory route to Siberia? Or they have been poached?’’
On January 23, The Sunday Express had first reported on the missing tigers in Sariska, followed by reports in The Indian Express on a similar crisis in Ranthambhore. On March 6, The Sunday Express highlighted a brewing tiger crisis in Madhya Pradesh’s Panna reserve.
The Ministry’s attempt to sideline the poaching issues is surprising given the fact the PM, in his letter to the Rajasthan CM on March 1, clearly urged action against poaching and wanted the state to carry out ‘‘raids in the vicinity of townships near the parks to control sale and purchase of bush meet and identify the suppliers—on a campaign basis’’.
In 2000, the Supreme Court had asked the Ministry to prepare a report in consultation with the chief secretaries of all states on the problems facing wildlife management.
In his affidavit, then MoEF secretary Vishwanath Anand listed a range of issues. ‘‘Poaching’’ figured second on the list, next to ‘‘degradation of habitat’’. The problems of poaching also figure as a core concern in the National Wildlife Action Plan.
Says P V Jayakrishnan, former secretary, MoEF, and chairman, Central Empowered Committee constituted by the SC: ‘‘Poaching has always been the biggest problem for us. How can you discuss tiger crisis and be silent on poaching? In all previous meetings, poaching menace was a prominent point in the agenda.’’
Wary of controversy, the PM’s Media Advisor Dr Sanjay Baru prefers to leave the issue to the Forest Ministry, pointing out that any member of the Board is naturally free to raise any ‘‘unlisted issue’’ during the March 17 meet.
MoEF secretary Dr Ghosh also insists that the government is open to ‘‘free discussion’’.
Counters Thapar: ‘‘That’s understood and I will definitely take up the issue. But the omission shows how the officials are not willing to call a spade a spade.’’
If you thought poaching should top the agenda when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh convenes the National Board for Wildlife on March 17, ostensibly to discuss the ‘‘biggest tiger crisis ever’’, think again.
In the agenda paper prepared by the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), the word poaching doesn’t figure at all.
And this omission is deliberate.
Justifying the omission of the P-word, Dr Prodipto Ghosh, Secretary, MoEF, says: ‘‘Poaching has to be established first. Investigations are on.’’
But that opinion is not shared by wildlife experts, including current and former members of the wildlife board.
Says Dr Ullas Karanth, member, Project Tiger Steering Committee, and ex-member of the Board: ‘‘Come on, who they are trying to fool? Almost every tiger reserve is facing the problem of poaching. There are cases registered which suffer from bad prosecution. The Ministry has never been serious. I don’t expect any transparency from them any more.’’
A number of members of the Board—a statutory body under the chairmanship of the PM—are livid but hesitate to come on record before the meet, which is being convened after more than a year.
But not tiger expert Valmik Thapar: ‘‘In the agenda notes, there is a 3-page description on the state of the tiger and specially the problems of Sariska. It is shocking that there is not a mention of the word poaching. The PM has asked the Rajasthan CM to fix responsibility for the disappearance of the tiger. What does it mean? Have tigers vanished taking some migratory route to Siberia? Or they have been poached?’’
On January 23, The Sunday Express had first reported on the missing tigers in Sariska, followed by reports in The Indian Express on a similar crisis in Ranthambhore. On March 6, The Sunday Express highlighted a brewing tiger crisis in Madhya Pradesh’s Panna reserve.
The Ministry’s attempt to sideline the poaching issues is surprising given the fact the PM, in his letter to the Rajasthan CM on March 1, clearly urged action against poaching and wanted the state to carry out ‘‘raids in the vicinity of townships near the parks to control sale and purchase of bush meet and identify the suppliers—on a campaign basis’’.
In 2000, the Supreme Court had asked the Ministry to prepare a report in consultation with the chief secretaries of all states on the problems facing wildlife management.
In his affidavit, then MoEF secretary Vishwanath Anand listed a range of issues. ‘‘Poaching’’ figured second on the list, next to ‘‘degradation of habitat’’. The problems of poaching also figure as a core concern in the National Wildlife Action Plan.
Says P V Jayakrishnan, former secretary, MoEF, and chairman, Central Empowered Committee constituted by the SC: ‘‘Poaching has always been the biggest problem for us. How can you discuss tiger crisis and be silent on poaching? In all previous meetings, poaching menace was a prominent point in the agenda.’’
Wary of controversy, the PM’s Media Advisor Dr Sanjay Baru prefers to leave the issue to the Forest Ministry, pointing out that any member of the Board is naturally free to raise any ‘‘unlisted issue’’ during the March 17 meet.
MoEF secretary Dr Ghosh also insists that the government is open to ‘‘free discussion’’.
Counters Thapar: ‘‘That’s understood and I will definitely take up the issue. But the omission shows how the officials are not willing to call a spade a spade.’’
Worst ever tiger crisis: PM to CM
2 March, 2005
More than a month after The Indian Express reported the disappearance of tigers from Sariska, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called it possibly the ‘‘biggest crisis in the management of our wildlife’’ since the launch of Project Tiger.
In a letter to Rajasthan Chief Minsiter Vasundhara Raje Scindia, the PM called for immediate remedial action by both state and Centre.
‘‘While I am taking up the matter with the Ministry of Environment, I would like to suggest some immediate steps that could be taken by the state government,’’ the letter said. The steps include:
= A high-level independent inquiry to identify the cause(s) and fix responsibility for the disappearance of tigers.
= Immediate halt to plying of diesel vehicles within the park. *Filling up vacant posts in the park within three months
= Tightening controls on cattle grazing and developing alternate grazing areas
= Working out arrangements with Ganesha Temple authorities in Sariska to control and regulate pilgrims and a halt on cooking inside the park
= Carrying out raids in townships near parks to control the sale and purchase of bush meat and identify the suppliers
= Construction of alternative route for the canal that cuts through the Sariska Park within a year The PM added that a system of post-mortem and inquiry should be introduced for every death of a tiger in a national park and reserve by a group of outside experts.
More than a month after The Indian Express reported the disappearance of tigers from Sariska, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called it possibly the ‘‘biggest crisis in the management of our wildlife’’ since the launch of Project Tiger.
In a letter to Rajasthan Chief Minsiter Vasundhara Raje Scindia, the PM called for immediate remedial action by both state and Centre.
‘‘While I am taking up the matter with the Ministry of Environment, I would like to suggest some immediate steps that could be taken by the state government,’’ the letter said. The steps include:
= A high-level independent inquiry to identify the cause(s) and fix responsibility for the disappearance of tigers.
= Immediate halt to plying of diesel vehicles within the park. *Filling up vacant posts in the park within three months
= Tightening controls on cattle grazing and developing alternate grazing areas
= Working out arrangements with Ganesha Temple authorities in Sariska to control and regulate pilgrims and a halt on cooking inside the park
= Carrying out raids in townships near parks to control the sale and purchase of bush meat and identify the suppliers
= Construction of alternative route for the canal that cuts through the Sariska Park within a year The PM added that a system of post-mortem and inquiry should be introduced for every death of a tiger in a national park and reserve by a group of outside experts.
No Evidence of Tigers in Sariska: WWF
13 February, 2005
A World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-India expert team has found ''not a single sign of evidence-direct or indirect-to indicate the presence of tiger'' in Rajasthan's Sariska reserve.
The team, which was invited by the Vasundhara Raje government to conduct a field survey, will soon submit its preliminary report to the state and the Centre, said P K Sen, Director, Tiger Programme, WWF-India. The survey followed an investigation by The Sunday Express that exposed the story of the missing tigers.
The preliminary report-a copy is with The Indian Express-has pointed out the following:
= The park's tigers came to harm between July and December, 2004
= Only poaching during that period can explain the sudden disappearance of the tigers
= Connivance of forest staff with the poachers is a distinct possibility
= If any tigers still remain, their number won't exceed one or two
= The management now must stay at Sariska to revive the park administration and take up the challenge of rebuilding the park
Meanwhile, an intensive search operation in Sariska, recommended by the Centre, is scheduled to end tomorrow.
While officials are reluctant to confirm details, sources in the ministry say no concrete evidence of tiger presence has been found by the government search team, either.
Project Tiger director, Rajesh Gopal, refused to comment on the WWF-India report, but claimed: ''I am waiting for the state government's report which will reach us in a few days. But I can tell you there are still tigers in the area. Maybe, they have moved away due to tourist disturbance.''
The Rajasthan government has also set up a six-member task force on the tigers missing from Sariska, Chief Minister Raje announced today.
Said Valmik Thapar, member of Project Tiger steering committee, and one of the members of Raje's task force: ''The terms of reference will be as broad as possible. The task at hand is to ensure the safety of the forests. Besides, Sariska's future has to be discussed. We must look into how the early warning system failed. But that is not surprising when the Project Tiger Directorate didn't find time to convene its steering committee for last two years.''
A World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-India expert team has found ''not a single sign of evidence-direct or indirect-to indicate the presence of tiger'' in Rajasthan's Sariska reserve.
The team, which was invited by the Vasundhara Raje government to conduct a field survey, will soon submit its preliminary report to the state and the Centre, said P K Sen, Director, Tiger Programme, WWF-India. The survey followed an investigation by The Sunday Express that exposed the story of the missing tigers.
The preliminary report-a copy is with The Indian Express-has pointed out the following:
= The park's tigers came to harm between July and December, 2004
= Only poaching during that period can explain the sudden disappearance of the tigers
= Connivance of forest staff with the poachers is a distinct possibility
= If any tigers still remain, their number won't exceed one or two
= The management now must stay at Sariska to revive the park administration and take up the challenge of rebuilding the park
Meanwhile, an intensive search operation in Sariska, recommended by the Centre, is scheduled to end tomorrow.
While officials are reluctant to confirm details, sources in the ministry say no concrete evidence of tiger presence has been found by the government search team, either.
Project Tiger director, Rajesh Gopal, refused to comment on the WWF-India report, but claimed: ''I am waiting for the state government's report which will reach us in a few days. But I can tell you there are still tigers in the area. Maybe, they have moved away due to tourist disturbance.''
The Rajasthan government has also set up a six-member task force on the tigers missing from Sariska, Chief Minister Raje announced today.
Said Valmik Thapar, member of Project Tiger steering committee, and one of the members of Raje's task force: ''The terms of reference will be as broad as possible. The task at hand is to ensure the safety of the forests. Besides, Sariska's future has to be discussed. We must look into how the early warning system failed. But that is not surprising when the Project Tiger Directorate didn't find time to convene its steering committee for last two years.''
Rajasthan now approaches experts to join Sariska search
8 February, 2005
While ‘‘intensive search operation’’ continues for the second week in Sariska Tiger Reserve, to detect evidence of tiger presence, the Rajasthan government has now decided to rope in experts to help the Forest Department in the combing operation.
The state government has written to World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Tourism and Wildlife Society of India, Paryavaran Praharai, experts Belinda Wright and Shantanu Kumar, among others, to help the Department so that ‘‘a realistic assessment can be made about the number of tigers in Sariska’’.
The intensive search was launched for a fortnight (from February 1-15) on orders from the Ministry of Environment and Forest after The Sunday Express reported the issue on January 23. Due to unseasonal rain, the search may now continue beyond February 15.
Express impact: Centre orders intensive search for tigers in Sariska reserve
31 January, 2005
Alarmed over the drastic drop in the visibility of tigers in the Sariska reserve and adjoining areas, the Ministry of Environment and Forests has asked the officials of the reserve to carry out "an intensive search in the coming fortnight".
Today’s order follows a joint inspection of the reserve by Dr Rajesh Gopal, director, Project Tiger, and Arun Sen, Additional Chief Wildlife Warden, Rajasthan, last week. Dr Gopal rushed to Sariska to join Sen in an emergency survey after The Sunday Express (January 23) reported on the sudden disappearance of tigers in the reserve.
Now the Ministry has asked the Chief Wildlife Warden of Rajasthan to deploy forest guard trainees along with local staff to survey the reserve which includes ground truthing for snares, traps and other untoward objects in the habitat, an official release said here today.
The Ministry accepted the fact that tiger was last spotted by tourists in Sariska on November 28, 2004. The Sunday Express also reported that no forest official had seen any tiger here since last June. The last official census of tigers in 2001-02 had counted 22 tigers in the protected area, the release said.
Besides ordering an intensive search, the Ministry also advised the state Chief Wildlife Warden to regulate vehicular pilgrim traffic inside Sariska, as well Ranthambore, which has gone up alarmingly in the recent past and is a major disturbing factor for the wild animals, the release added.
Alarmed over the drastic drop in the visibility of tigers in the Sariska reserve and adjoining areas, the Ministry of Environment and Forests has asked the officials of the reserve to carry out "an intensive search in the coming fortnight".
Today’s order follows a joint inspection of the reserve by Dr Rajesh Gopal, director, Project Tiger, and Arun Sen, Additional Chief Wildlife Warden, Rajasthan, last week. Dr Gopal rushed to Sariska to join Sen in an emergency survey after The Sunday Express (January 23) reported on the sudden disappearance of tigers in the reserve.
Now the Ministry has asked the Chief Wildlife Warden of Rajasthan to deploy forest guard trainees along with local staff to survey the reserve which includes ground truthing for snares, traps and other untoward objects in the habitat, an official release said here today.
The Ministry accepted the fact that tiger was last spotted by tourists in Sariska on November 28, 2004. The Sunday Express also reported that no forest official had seen any tiger here since last June. The last official census of tigers in 2001-02 had counted 22 tigers in the protected area, the release said.
Besides ordering an intensive search, the Ministry also advised the state Chief Wildlife Warden to regulate vehicular pilgrim traffic inside Sariska, as well Ranthambore, which has gone up alarmingly in the recent past and is a major disturbing factor for the wild animals, the release added.
Have you seen a tiger at Sariska since June? If yes, you’re the only one
THE INDIAN EXPRESS
22 January, 2005
Where have the tigers of Sariska gone? The last official count was last summer when there were at least 15 tigers in this 866-sq-km reserve in Rajasthan—the previous Census had put it at 24—but for six months now, except for two sightings by tourists, not one tiger has been seen, not one pug mark by any official.
Experts are so worried that Project Tiger director Rajesh Gopal says he has asked for a report from Sariska authorities. ‘‘It’s unnatural if no pug mark is found. Natural death cannot happen at that scale. I will visit Sariska soon.’’
His alarm isn’t misplaced. Consider these:
• Traditionally, tigers retreat to the hills due to abundance of water during July-August rains before returning to the plains by October. And the ‘‘peak’’ season for tiger-sightings is December-January. But no forest official has spotted a tiger since June last year.
• Says Deputy Field Director Priyo Ranjan, who took charge last September: ‘‘I am yet to see a tiger here.’’
• In the peak season in 2003-2004, there were 17 official sightings, the previous year there were nine.
• No tiger pug mark or kill has been traced since the last monsoon. In the peak season,pugmarks are seen, on an average, every day.
• No tiger carcass recovered to suggest natural death.
• Leopards are seen frequenting the tiger territory like never before.
• Forest officials rule out an epidemic and deny having any evidence of tiger poaching.
In fact, few officials utter the P-word here. Says Rajasthan Forest Secretary Raj Hans Upadhyay: ‘‘I have already asked the Wildlife Warden to visit the sanctuary and check the ground reality.’’ Chief Wildlife Warden, Rajasthan, Arun Sen, rules out any foul play: "We have responsible officers and staff there. We will wait till the next Census.’’
While DFO Ranjan, too, says that there is no evidence of poaching, he points to the eastern fringe of the park as a vulnerable zone. ‘‘We arrest poachers who sneak in with dogs to hunt sambars but we can’t access the hilly areas during the rains when the jungle tracks are washed out. If something happened during that time last year, we have to find out.’’
Until that happens, the forest staff will remain clueless about the missing tigers. But the consensus is that managing the sprawl is getting increasingly difficult.
One reason, they say, is the 11 villages inside the proposed national park—Sariska hasn’t been declared a National Park pending relocation of these villages.
Says B M Sharma, Asstt Field Director: "We could have sealed the park otherwise. But these villagers cause a lot of movements. Sometimes, outsiders can get in as their relative or friends. Besides, cattle load is heavy and grazing rampant."
There are also problems of logistics. Of Rs 1.2 crore sanctioned by Project Tiger this year, only Rs 20 lakh has been used. The forest department can’t access more unless the state government also releases an equal amount of funds. They have only five guns, two revolvers, three jeeps and four motorcyles to patrol this forest.
BOX: IT’S A MYSTERY
PRIYO RANJAN, DFO, Sariska: I haven’t seen any tiger here since I joined last September. We are looking for pug marks, scratch marks, etc. It’s a matter of concern.
DR RAJESH GOPAL, IGF & Director, Project Tiger: It’s unnatural if no pug mark is found. I have asked for a report. I will visit Sariska soon. The Census is coming up. Let’s see what we get.
ARUN SEN, Chief Wildlife Warden, Rajasthan: If you don’t see tigers, it doesn’t mean there are not any. Who says there are no pug marks? I will check.
B M SHARMA, Asstt Field Director, Sariska: There have been no pug marks for months. We didn’t see any tiger since last June. It’s a mystery.
P K SEN, Director, WWF, India: There were quite a few tigers in Sariska until last year. They can’t just vanish. Mass death is unlikely.
VALMIK THAPAR, Tiger expert: I haven’t been to Sariska in a while. But I heard serious reports — even extreme reports like there is no tiger left.
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