BENGALURU: Karnataka boasts of the largest elephant population (6,395) and second largest tiger population (563) in India, as per the 2023 National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) report. The state also has 37 per cent or 21,000sqkm of the Western Ghats, which is both a boon and a bane.
In the jungles, there is one rule: survival of the fittest. The same prevails on the forest periphery. Domestic animals on the periphery, too, are struggling for survival. Foresters are striving to save the green patches, while people in the periphery are striving to save cattle, agricultural fields and themselves.
The recent death of a nine-year old tigress and her four one-year-old cubs due to poisoning in Hoogyam Range in Male Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary (MM Hills) is an outcome of this battle for survival, and an alarm call of more such conflicts to come. Farmers had laced an animal carcass with banned and regulated chemicals — phorate and carbofuran — to settle scores with the forest department and kill the tigers that had hunted their cattle in the past.
“This not only shows that the forest department is unable to instill confidence among locals residing in the periphery, but are also unable to protect a breeding female and her cubs. It shows locals have lost trust and confidence in the forest department for due compensation,” says an expert in man-animal conflict.
Experts point out that this incident – like similar ones earlier – has opened a can of worms for the forest department. They also stressed the governance challenges. “Three people were arrested. The Assistant Conservator of Forests and Range Forest Officer were suspended. The Deputy Conservator of Forests has been recommended for suspension in MM Hills. But the unanswered question is: why does the department continue to deploy officials who face multiple charges, especially dereliction of duty? This reflects poor leadership. The fact that the farmer had not claimed cattle death compensation and dumped the carcass 150 metres inside the forest, near the anti-poaching camp, shows that farmers have lost faith in the system and there is anger. This is an eye-opener, and it is time the department pulled up its socks,” says an expert working closely with the department.
On July 11, a leopard carcass was found near a stone quarry in Terakanambi of Biligiri Ranganatha Tiger Reserve (BRT) in Chamarajanagar. Preliminary investigation revealed that the animal had died from poisoning, too.
Poisoning not common
Forest officials, however, maintained that poisoning incidents are not common. “Poisoning was frequent till 2010. It was the biggest challenge after cattle kills. But it almost stopped after prompt release of compensation started. Three years ago, a tiger was found dead due to poisoning in Nagarhole Tiger Reserve and two years ago, a leopard was found dead in the same manner in Bandipur Tiger Reserve,” says a forest official.
Experts, however, say this is unacceptable. They point out that if locals are poisoning carcasses and dumping them, and are using illegal electric fences to keep animals at bay or even to kill them, they could as well spray large quantities of pesticides to wipe out a herd of elephants raiding crops.
There is an urgent need for ministers and officials of forest, agriculture, energy, rural development and panchayat raj departments to put their heads together and plan. They must take stern action against farmers using banned and regulated pesticides. Action must be taken against erring officials. Erecting rail barricades on one hand, allowing farmers to grow commercial cash crops in the forest periphery, legalising encroachments and allowing development inside forests, on the other, are bigger problems and should be addressed, experts suggest.
Cattle-grazing a big worry
There is a staff crunch, but the bigger problem is cattle-grazing inside forests. Cattle devour grass which is required for herbivores. Decline in prey base drastically impacts the carnivore population. Until 2005, there were no tigers in the forest divisions of Chamarajanagar.
In MM Hills, there are cattle pens inside the forest. Retired Principal Chief Conservator of Forests BK Singh says, ”Cattle-grazing happens everywhere, but in MM Hills, there are doddis (cattle pens). These are cattle camps inside forests where hundreds of cattle stay, breed and graze. Rich landlords and farmers hire labourers to take care of their doddis. This is a practice on the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka borders. Surprisingly, the Karnataka forest department has done little about it.”
“When forest brigand Veerappan roamed the forests, these camps had disappeared. After his death in 2004, there were no doddis for around five years. They started to return gradually. The foresters should have been proactive in stopping them. This reflects poor management and perambulation,” he says.
The other problem is people entering forests to collect minor forest produce (MFP). In MM Hills, people enter to collect makaliberu (Decalepis hamiltonii), the root of a creeper used in ayurvedic medicines and pickles. It has become a major concern in Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, where people enter for cattle-grazing and fishing.
While this is a reflection of poor leadership on the ground, it also shows that various forces set up by the state government over the years – like the tiger, elephant and leopard protection forces – are strong only on paper. There is no staff to control the basics on the ground. Outsourcing staff and blaming them for not doing their duty reflects poorly on the government, says Avani Kumar Verma, retired Principal Chief Conservator of Forests.
A senior forest official admits to staff crunch, and says that while the government has permitted recruiting 540 guards, there are also orders to outsource staff. “We can outsource D-Group employees like typists and drivers. But watchers and guards should be recruited. In the police and defence sectors, frontline staff is not outsourced. Forest protection is as important as securing borders. It is needed to ensure accountability and a sense of ownership,” the official says.
K Ullas Karanth, the noted tiger expert, says there is no commitment to science in policy and planning. He bemoans ad-hoc decision making. “Commitment to science and integrity has to come from the top. But it has slackened both at the State and Centre, regardless of which political party is ruling,” Karanth says.
Another major problem is the Chengadi settlement in MM Hills. “They are not tribals. They are Vokkaligas settled inside the forest since the 1940s, with proper documents. They are keen to come out, but the government has been unable to relocate them. They have no livelihood inside, so work as daily wagers,” says the official.
MM Hills is tiger nest
While the entire forest area of Karnataka is crucial, this landscape is vital. MM Hills is part of a large, contiguous landscape — the Nilgiri Cluster, spread across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and is home to the world’s largest tiger population. It is also part of the Mysore Elephant Reserve which is hugely important for Asiatic elephants, spread across over 5,000sqkm.
From the biodiversity perspective, these areas are important for possessing unique plant diversity and having rare endemic species like the grizzled giant squirrel, the ratel (honey badger), tree shrew, hyenas and others.
The landscape includes forests of Wayanad, North and South Cauvery Wildlife sanctuaries, MM Hills, Bramhagiri, Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Mudumalai, Sathyamangala, Hosur and Bannerghatta National Park. According to the forest department, the landscape is a contiguous forest patch stretching over 9,000sqkm, of which 6,000sqkm is in Karnataka.
A forest official admits that until recently, most of the forests, barring Bandipur and Nagarahole tiger reserves, were under territorial divisions. While they were recently declared as ‘national parks’ and ‘wildlife sanctuaries’, staff strength was not enhanced as government focus did not change.
The road ahead
Soon after the deaths, the government got into quick correction mode. Forest, Environment and Ecology Minister Eshwar B Khandre ordered a ban on cattle grazing inside Karnataka forests, particularly MM Hills. All camps were told to close down immediately. “Around 55 per cent of posts of frontline staff guards, watchers, rapid response team, anti-poaching camp are vacant, and orders have been issued to fill them immediately. Responsibility and accountability among officials will be fixed,” says the minister. He says coordination with RDPR, Tribal and Agriculture departments will also be needed to build confidence among people and ensure co-existence. PC Rai, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife, says, “We are stepping up patrolling. Work of staff on the ground is being closely monitored, besides improving coordination between states, and understanding their working methods.”
But experts point out that these measures are not enough. Trustee, Wildlife First, Praveen Bhargav, says: “The announcement of increasing staff strength is a step forward, but the issue of crucial frontline formations being largely staffed by daily-wage watchers is deeply worrisome. They require quality on-ground leadership from field officers. For this, rangers and ACFs need to be unburdened from paperwork, meetings and civil work, so that they spend more time on the field. The recovery of tigers over the years happened due to sustained efforts of officers personally leading field formations in the past and not digital devices, software and apps.”
‘Cut down excess funding to tiger, wildlife reserves’
Noted tiger expert K Ullas Karanth called for cutting down excess funding to tiger and wildlife reserves. He stressed the importance of competency and commitment among forest staff to address man-animal conflicts. “Critical positions in wildlife at all levels, from forest guards to chief wildlife wardens, should be filled by competent officials with commitment to protection, and some knowledge of wildlife,” he said.
Another critical aspect Karanth points out is the selection of non-officials. “Non-officials of wildlife advisory bodies and expert committees, who are supposed to bring new knowledge into wildlife governance, should be persons with necessary training, track record and wisdom, rather than docile favourites of politicians and officials who lobby for these positions,” he says, adding that it is important to cut down all excess funding to tiger and wildlife reserves. “Funds should be directed only to improve protection efforts such as patrolling and prevention of wildlife crimes. Another priority is to promote voluntary resettlement of human settlements, reduce conflicts and hostility. Most funds are being spent now on so-called habitat improvement, vegetation manipulations, altering natural water flows, etc. These are scientifically unjustified. The problem of incompetent staff and officials lobbying to get wildlife posts arise because of opportunities induced by such funding,” says Karanth.
He elaborates that human-tiger conflict is a consequence of three key factors: interspersion and intrusion of human activities in areas where tigers are breeding; unnaturally high prey densities in a few hotspots; unscientific and unnecessary habitat manipulations in the name of wildlife management. This has led to tiger density, survival rates and cub production that reach unnaturally high levels, he said.
In other conflict-prone reserves such as Bandipur, Nagarahole and more recently, BRT, this problem has risen steeply.
“If it continues, it will spread to other reserves and forests. The only difference in the MM Hills case is that the conflict appears to have emerged not by increased natural prey densities, but artificially, by the illegal intrusion of huge numbers of cattle which allowed this tigress to raise four cubs to sub-adult stage,” says Karanth.
He says the third trigger for increased conflict is unscientific translocation of tigers being repeatedly carried out by ill-informed officials, despite evidence against it from across the country. In high-density tigers areas, 20 per cent of population is lost every year, which is natural.