The increase in tiger population in Bandipur due to strong protection measures coupled with a rise in the conflict situation in the villages on the forest periphery has brought to fore new challenges in balancing conservation imperatives and human needs.
As conservationists take stock of the status of tiger and the existential threats to the species to mark International Tiger Day on Friday, the authorities at Bandipur Tiger Reserve, which is spread across 912 sq. km, are grappling with the urgency of increasing the buffer zone to act as a sink to absorb the rise in tiger numbers.
Other tiger reserves too
And what is true for Bandipur is also true for Nagarahole and other tiger reserves to a large extent. According to the 2018 tiger estimates, Bandipur harboured 126 tigers as per the camera trap images. But the actual number is around 173 as cubs were not accounted for during the census exercise, according to the park authorities.
The increase in tiger numbers in the core area has resulted in frequent territorial fights with the dominant male ejecting the weaker one which disperses to the buffer or strays into human landscape on the periphery resulting in conflicts. There are 156 villages around Bandipur supporting a human population of nearly 1.25 lakh besides 1.26 livestock population.
“Attending to human-animal conflict takes almost 70% of our time and resources as a result of which other equally important conservation works get affected,” said Ramesh Kumar, Director, Bandipur Tiger Reserve.
Though the conflicts have to mainly do with elephants, tigers are increasingly being sighted on the forest periphery as well and have to be captured or pushed back, Mr. Ramesh Kumar added.
The authorities have also flagged poaching as a cause of concern in the long run. While tiger poaching by international and organised networks has more or less been eliminated, the threat to tigers arises from the poaching of prey animals such as sambar, chital or barking deer by the local population for domestic consumption. A reduction in prey base can have a negative bearing on tiger population besides increasing conflict situations.
During the peak of COVID-19 and the resultant lockdown, the adjoining Nagarahole Tiger Reserve reported as many as 47 poaching incidents, underlining the seriousness of hunting of prey animals. This is equally true for Bandipur, M.M. Hills, and Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuaries and there have been calls for coopting local community and making them stakeholders in wildlife conservation.
Given the rise in wildlife population in general and tiger numbers in particular, the authorities have plans to augment the buffer zone and have identified land abutting the forest boundary. “This includes gomal land and we are pushing for final notification to get at least 300 to 500 hectares declared as a reserve forest,” said Mr. Ramesh Kumar. This is expected to act as a sink to absorb the wildlife population, he added.
Disturbances in ESZ
However, conservation activist Giridhar Kulkarni said the success of the Forest Department in tiger conservation and augmenting the buffer zone is commendable, but it should take stock of the disturbances in the existing Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) as well and pull down the illegal structures to minimise disturbance to wildlife.
The proliferation of the non-edible weed lantana is another issue affecting most wildlife reserves, including Bandipur, Nagarahole, BRT Tiger Reserve, Bhadra, and M.M. Hills, and will impact the fodder availability of prey animals. But at present, there is no viable solution in sight for their removal.
