Mrudul Godbole
09-09-2010, 07:24 PM
Ranthambore National Park: Turf war
Anindo Dey , TNN, Aug 27, 2010, 03.25am IST
Technically, there was always a crowd. But guided by a traditional respect for one another's domain, the occasional overlap of territory at the Ranthambore National Park was a given for the parties concerned - the tiger, the forester, the villager and the conservation brigade.
Years later, a new equation is fast emerging. The tiger, now under extreme care, has multiplied like never before, pushing the park to its seams by spreading out to peripheral areas. The forester, under global pressure, is attempting to lay down the law firmly. The villagers, pushed to the brink of the forest, are making a last-ditch bid to hold on to their land. And for conservation NGOs, grabbing the global limelight has never been easier.
The thin line of divide is fast fading, giving way to increasing instances of man-animal conflict. And tempers are running thin. Barely days after a tranquillizing bid went horribly wrong in the Bhuri Pahadi village in Khandar, with a tiger attacking a ranger amid shouts and alleged stone pelting by villagers, Ranthambore park director Raghubir Singh Shekhawat lost his cool on Wednesday as a herd of buffaloes made their way to the neighbouring sanctuary for grazing.
For years, he might have looked the other way at stray instances of grazing but not now, given the success story Ranthambore has to safeguard. The herd had moved into Sawai Madhopur sanctuary that is being developed as a satellite sanctuary to house spillover tigers. The herd and the grazer were shooed away.
Minutes after Shekhawat reached the outpost of Bodal, villagers, who are on the verge of relocation by next year, came forth with their petition. ''Most of us now have just two or three buffaloes, so what is wrong if we graze them there? Where else will we go?'' appealed 63-year-old Bajrang Lal.
After half an hour of haggling, an agreement was reached. Herders were given a little extra area to graze. ''Any further and I will fine Rs 10,000 per buffalo,'' warned Shekhawat.
The nuances of law-enforcing are not lost here. Besides helping forest authorities with eco-development work along the periphery, villagers will be required to cooperate with the voluntary relocation process that is on for securing the tiger habitat. For the villagers, bereft of grazing space, every inch negotiated is an inch won.
"The grazing land owned by the panchayat, which was once on the outskirts of the forest have been all occupied by musclemen either for mining or for cultivation, '' says Ranglal Choudhary, assistant conservator of forest at Sawai Mansingh sanctuary. "And once herders go into the forest, it is a matter of chance whether or not a tiger attacks.''
''Ranthambore had its fill way back in 2005 when the pugmark census revealed a count of 26. Now there are about 37 tigers," says Rajpal Singh, member of the state wildlife board. "Each male needs its separate territory and while the dominant ones take pride of place in the core area, the young ones look to the periphery for carving out a space for themselves. And it is when they roam here that most conflicts take place."
Records suggest in the last five years, while four people have died in tiger attacks, at least six were left injured. On the other hand, in Khandahar area alone, at least five tigers were killed in the past five years — the latest being March 7 at Talra, when two cubs strayed into a village and fell prey to a poisoned goat set up as a bait.
The concrete wall planned around the reserve is being seen as imperative to define forest and non-forest areas. ''The wall would not only prevent the villagers from getting inside the forest but also prevent tigers from straying out. We have already built 15.5km of a targeted 87km for last year and this year.,'' said Shekhawat.
That along with relocation of villages from the critical tiger habitat (CTH) area as well as the periphery of the reserve is being seen as the solution to the conflict. But of 73 villages in the CTH and 90 in the periphery, only two villages — Indala and Manchaki — have been moved out of the CTH. Relocation of five is in process in Sawai Madhopur. Until the space equation changes, and that is a long way away if at all, the line of divide is a live wire.
The article - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Ranthambore-National-Park-Turf-war/articleshow/6442888.cms
Anindo Dey , TNN, Aug 27, 2010, 03.25am IST
Technically, there was always a crowd. But guided by a traditional respect for one another's domain, the occasional overlap of territory at the Ranthambore National Park was a given for the parties concerned - the tiger, the forester, the villager and the conservation brigade.
Years later, a new equation is fast emerging. The tiger, now under extreme care, has multiplied like never before, pushing the park to its seams by spreading out to peripheral areas. The forester, under global pressure, is attempting to lay down the law firmly. The villagers, pushed to the brink of the forest, are making a last-ditch bid to hold on to their land. And for conservation NGOs, grabbing the global limelight has never been easier.
The thin line of divide is fast fading, giving way to increasing instances of man-animal conflict. And tempers are running thin. Barely days after a tranquillizing bid went horribly wrong in the Bhuri Pahadi village in Khandar, with a tiger attacking a ranger amid shouts and alleged stone pelting by villagers, Ranthambore park director Raghubir Singh Shekhawat lost his cool on Wednesday as a herd of buffaloes made their way to the neighbouring sanctuary for grazing.
For years, he might have looked the other way at stray instances of grazing but not now, given the success story Ranthambore has to safeguard. The herd had moved into Sawai Madhopur sanctuary that is being developed as a satellite sanctuary to house spillover tigers. The herd and the grazer were shooed away.
Minutes after Shekhawat reached the outpost of Bodal, villagers, who are on the verge of relocation by next year, came forth with their petition. ''Most of us now have just two or three buffaloes, so what is wrong if we graze them there? Where else will we go?'' appealed 63-year-old Bajrang Lal.
After half an hour of haggling, an agreement was reached. Herders were given a little extra area to graze. ''Any further and I will fine Rs 10,000 per buffalo,'' warned Shekhawat.
The nuances of law-enforcing are not lost here. Besides helping forest authorities with eco-development work along the periphery, villagers will be required to cooperate with the voluntary relocation process that is on for securing the tiger habitat. For the villagers, bereft of grazing space, every inch negotiated is an inch won.
"The grazing land owned by the panchayat, which was once on the outskirts of the forest have been all occupied by musclemen either for mining or for cultivation, '' says Ranglal Choudhary, assistant conservator of forest at Sawai Mansingh sanctuary. "And once herders go into the forest, it is a matter of chance whether or not a tiger attacks.''
''Ranthambore had its fill way back in 2005 when the pugmark census revealed a count of 26. Now there are about 37 tigers," says Rajpal Singh, member of the state wildlife board. "Each male needs its separate territory and while the dominant ones take pride of place in the core area, the young ones look to the periphery for carving out a space for themselves. And it is when they roam here that most conflicts take place."
Records suggest in the last five years, while four people have died in tiger attacks, at least six were left injured. On the other hand, in Khandahar area alone, at least five tigers were killed in the past five years — the latest being March 7 at Talra, when two cubs strayed into a village and fell prey to a poisoned goat set up as a bait.
The concrete wall planned around the reserve is being seen as imperative to define forest and non-forest areas. ''The wall would not only prevent the villagers from getting inside the forest but also prevent tigers from straying out. We have already built 15.5km of a targeted 87km for last year and this year.,'' said Shekhawat.
That along with relocation of villages from the critical tiger habitat (CTH) area as well as the periphery of the reserve is being seen as the solution to the conflict. But of 73 villages in the CTH and 90 in the periphery, only two villages — Indala and Manchaki — have been moved out of the CTH. Relocation of five is in process in Sawai Madhopur. Until the space equation changes, and that is a long way away if at all, the line of divide is a live wire.
The article - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Ranthambore-National-Park-Turf-war/articleshow/6442888.cms