New haven for tigers at Parambikulam

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Union Minister of State for Environment and Forest Jairam
Ramesh will inaugurate the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve, the second in
the State after the Periyar Tiger Reserve, on February 17.
Forest Minister Benoy Viswom will preside over the function. The new
reserve will have a total area of 648.5 sq km, with a buffer zone of
225.3 sq km.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/25/stor...2554570400.htm

[Mrudul Godbole]

That is a good news. Thanks for sharing the information.

[Lakshminarayanan Nataraja]

Good News.

Parambikulam deserves Project tiger status. The prey base is good with Gaur and Sambar all through the reserve.

The Vazahachal range is vulnerable for poaching and the protection measures should be reinforced.

Another concern area is demarcation of core and buffer zones. Not sure who has worked in this area on tigers and their prey. In many tiger reserves, buffer areas were demarcated arbitrarily without data.

The reserve being small in size, the entire area (except the fringes) can be declared as core tiger area.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

I was there last year. There were signs of poaching. One can easily make out from the behaviour of animals. A herd of gaur ran and crossed the road at the sight of my vehicle. Even though, I had stopped when I saw them. The Nilgiri Langur kept on hiding itself behind the bamboo whenever I raised my lens. These are sure shot signs of poaching. I hope the patrolling is strengthened.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi