THOOTUKUDI: The year was 2015, and CR Ramana Kaliash was just 8 years at that time. A picture of a Sumatran orangutan that was reduced to ashes in a forest fire shook the boy's mind and he decided to spread awareness on wildlife conservation.
Now 15, Kailash is the proud author of the novel 'Fire of Sumatra' which is based on the recurring incidents of forest fires that put wildlife in danger, especially pushing the Sumatran tiger to the verge of extinction. Kailash said tigers are an umbrella species that need to be protected for a balanced forest ecosystem and more attention needs to be given on increasing forest cover in order to protect the wildlife.
On the occasion of World Wildlife Day - 2022, themed on 'Recovering key species for Ecosystem Restoration', Kailash said the tigers safeguard the dense forest and the surrounding environment from human destruction and thus protects the rivers originating from the hills. "The river Thamirabarani originates from western ghats mountain ranges remain perennial because its springs are surrounded by tiger corridors," he said.
The teenager who had traveled to many tiger reserves in the country including Kalakadu-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR), Megamalai Tiger Reserve, Anamalai Tiger Reserve, Parambikulam Tiger Reserve, Periyar Tiger Reserve, Bandipur Tiger Reserve, said the tigers can survive in different landscapes such as mountainous terrains of western ghats and rain forests of Northeast, arid forests of Rajasthan and mangroves as well .
He said that the tiger population is on the rise due to the considerable conservation efforts, however, it needs adequate movement corridors.
"As per the tiger population census, the number of tigers in the country was estimated to be 1,411 in 2006, 1,706 in 2010, 2,226 in 2014 and 2,967 in 2018", he said.
"When the tiger population increases, its habitat and the corridor needs to be expanded so that they could move around avoiding man-animal conflict," he said, adding there has been no report of tiger attacks and poaching in the recent past from KMTR. He reasoned it saying it might be due to the surrounding Periyar Tiger Reserve in the north and Kanyakumari wildlife in the south.