The ongoing Tiger and Mega Herbivore Enumeration in Bandipur, Nagarahole and BRT Tiger Reserve has reignited the debate on studying the ecological carrying capacities of these protected areas in view of the projected increase in tiger population.
Activists have also called for strengthening the buffer and wildlife corridors to ensure population dispersal and to minimise conflict.
The results of the ongoing exercise will be released only after the data generated across the country is analysed by scientists and may take a few months.
But the trends from the earlier exercise — held once in four years — indicate a rise in the tiger numbers in these national parks this year as well, according to local officials. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) pegged the tiger population for Karnataka at 290 in 2006, 300 in 2010, 406 in 2014, and 524 in 2018.
While 126 individual tigers were photographed through camera trapping method in Bandipurin 2018, 125 individual tigers were identified in Nagarahole. The annual camera trap exercise conducted at the park level at Bandipur and Nagarahole indicate an increase in tiger numbers this year as well.
Though this is good news on the conservation front, there are concerns of increase in human-tiger conflicts which are already high around Bandipur-Nagarahole belt, according to K.S. Sudheer of Voice for Wildlife.
He said there are scientifically established protocols to assess the ecological carrying capacities of the national park but officials are content counting tigers instead of conducting such studies and define the optimum number for a national park.
The increase in tiger numbers is also corelated to increase in the number of tigers foraying outside the forest periphery and preying on domestic animals, according to Mr. Sudheer.
The authorities in Bandipur and Nagarahole are frequently engaged in combing operations to trap tigers that stray into human landscape.There are nearly 200 villages surrounding Bandipur and as many villages around Nagarahole which are potential conflict zones.
Even Forest Department officials on conditions of anonymity aver that Bandipur, Nagarahole and BRT Tiger Reserve may have attained their optimum tiger carrying capacities. Any further increase in numbers could mean increase in tiger densities, resulting in some of the tigers moving out to the fringes or to stray into human landscape escalating conflict situation, according to the officials.
One of the officers recently stated that it was time to relocate tigers to forests that could support their population. But Mr. Sudheer said there was no inviolate space in Karnataka and even for translocations the ecological carrying capacity of such a habitat has to be studied.
Another wildlife activist said best option was to strengthen the corridors connecting protected areas to ensure dispersal of tigers to other protected areas. He also called for ensuring that the land use pattern around protected areas are not changed. In Bylur range of the BRT Reserve, there was gomaal land beyond Suvarnavathy dam for decades. But over the years the gomaal land has been converted to colonies and this has escalated conflict situation, said the activist.
