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.
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