Mrudul Godbole
19-12-2009, 06:02 PM
The Ranthambhore National Park and Tiger Reserve is back on news again. On the one hand, the Rajasthan Government has submitted a proposal to the Centre for a tiger reserve at Darrah, but on the other, it is going to destroy a vital and only forest corridor between Ranthambhore National Park and Keladevi sanctuary (both fall under the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve) by building a new road between Sawata and Hadoti. This is a major threat to tiger conservation.
Wildlife experts and agencies like National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) have been stressing the importance of maintaining this vital forest corridor intact. The Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve comprises of three protected areas — Keladevi Sanctuary (about 600 sqkm) in the northeastern side, the Ranthambhore National Park in the middle (393 sqkm), and the Sawai Mansingh Sanctuary in the southern side.
Most of the tiger population is found in the Ranthambhore National Park but the surplus population (mostly young tigers in search of individual territories) migrates to Keladevi or Sawai Mansingh. The connectivity to these three protected areas is very important.
Unfortunately, this is not up to the desired level. A number of big and small villages dot the stretch between Ranthambhore and Sawai Mansingh sanctuaries.
Moreover, the highway passing through the corridor also adds to the problem. However, there is an unhindered corridor that exists between the parks and that passes through the Banas river. But this is going to be destroyed by the new road project. Heavy sand mining in the river spells trouble for the fragile ecosystem here. This part of the river, besides being a very important source of water for wildlife, serves the purpose of a crucial corridor for migration of wild animals vital for a healthy gene pool.
The proposed tiger reserve at the Darrah National Park, also called the Rajiv Gandhi National Park, consists of three wildlife sanctuaries — Darrah, Chambal and Jaswant Sagar. It was declared a national park in 2004 and is spread over an area of 250 km. It is also separated from Ranthambhore National Park by a 250-sqkm stretch of Ramgarh Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary.
Link - http://www.dailypioneer.com/222949/New-Ranthambhore-road-spells-trouble-for-tigers.html
Wildlife experts and agencies like National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) have been stressing the importance of maintaining this vital forest corridor intact. The Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve comprises of three protected areas — Keladevi Sanctuary (about 600 sqkm) in the northeastern side, the Ranthambhore National Park in the middle (393 sqkm), and the Sawai Mansingh Sanctuary in the southern side.
Most of the tiger population is found in the Ranthambhore National Park but the surplus population (mostly young tigers in search of individual territories) migrates to Keladevi or Sawai Mansingh. The connectivity to these three protected areas is very important.
Unfortunately, this is not up to the desired level. A number of big and small villages dot the stretch between Ranthambhore and Sawai Mansingh sanctuaries.
Moreover, the highway passing through the corridor also adds to the problem. However, there is an unhindered corridor that exists between the parks and that passes through the Banas river. But this is going to be destroyed by the new road project. Heavy sand mining in the river spells trouble for the fragile ecosystem here. This part of the river, besides being a very important source of water for wildlife, serves the purpose of a crucial corridor for migration of wild animals vital for a healthy gene pool.
The proposed tiger reserve at the Darrah National Park, also called the Rajiv Gandhi National Park, consists of three wildlife sanctuaries — Darrah, Chambal and Jaswant Sagar. It was declared a national park in 2004 and is spread over an area of 250 km. It is also separated from Ranthambhore National Park by a 250-sqkm stretch of Ramgarh Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary.
Link - http://www.dailypioneer.com/222949/New-Ranthambhore-road-spells-trouble-for-tigers.html