Kaziranga may be converted into tiger reserve
>From Our Spl Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Aug 6 Home to one-horned rhino, Kaziranga National Park is among
eight wildlife sanctuaries identified for possible conversion into tiger
reserve. Alarmed by dwindling tiger population, Government of India has drawn
plans to designate selected wildlife sanctuaries into tiger reserves. The
Ministry of Environment and Forest after hectic rounds of discussions has
zeroed down on eight such wildlife parks, including KNP.
The Government of India has approved in principle the upcoming new tiger
reserves, the names of which are likely to be announced later, sources said.
The eight wildlife sanctuaries and national parks which have been so identified
includes the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, Annamalai Wildlife Sanctuary in
Tamil Nadu, Parambikulam Wildlife
Sanctuary Kerala, Udanti and Sita Nadi Wildlife Sanctuaries in Chhattisgarh,
Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary in Orissa, Achanakmar Wildlife Sanctuary in
Chattisgarh, Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary and Anshi National Park in Karnataka,
Sanjay National Park and Sanjay Dubri Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh and
Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu.
The proposal is to depute teams comprising researchers and scientists to assist
the State Governments in conserving the tigers. The core and buffer areas would
be identified and the boundaries marked by milestones on the periphery of the
core, before tigers are transferred, sources said.
A recent study by the WWF has revealed that during the past 80 years, 26
percent of the tiger area has been lost in 80 districts within the country.
During this period, the human population has increased from 2384 million to
10274 million.
Tiger conservation in India is going through a time of crisis. As estimations
of actual numbers are on a decline, conservationists are concerned that and
unless efforts for protection are substantially stepped up, this decline will
lead to criticality, the WWF said this month.
The predicament of continuous reduction of tiger habitat and fragmentation due
to development projects, human habitation on forestland and encroachments, rail
lines, roads, canals, is gaining momentum without sufficient care for the
environment. This is leading to increased human-wildlife conflicts, the
isolation of tiger population and their prey base, it said.
The WWF has recommended that efforts should be concentrated towards enhancing
source tiger population, especially in areas outside the protected ones
(National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries) - the WWF tiger estimation study is
indicative that the major decline of tigers are from areas which lie outside
these protected areas.
There is an urgent need to connect habitats to allow dispersal of tigers and
other wildlife, which can be particularly helpful in repopulating habitats
where the population has gone down, it suggested.
The WWF has recommended that State Governments need to be supported to
strengthen their enforcement machinery, with a special grant on the lines of
the Police Modernisation Programmes for insurgency and other civil unrest
affected areas.
KNP covers an area of 430 Sq Km along the river Brahmaputra on the North and
the Karbi Anglong hills on the South. The National Park is home to about 15
species of Indias threatened mammals including tigers. Currently, Manas
Wildlife Sanctuary is under Project Tiger, besides Pakhu-Nameri
(Assam-Arunachal Pradesh) and Dampha in Mizoram.
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