RANCHI: Jharkhand forest officials have chalked out plans to set up soft release centres in order to ensure enough food for tigers, which will help in increasing their numbers in the Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR).
According PTR officials, number of deer has shrunk to less than 4,000 from 10,000 in the last one decade, resulting in the decrease of tiger count in the PTR.
The soft release centres are those where animals are placed in pre-release cages located close to the location where they will be released.
After some time, the animals are allowed to go out, but they have the option of returning to the cage for shelter, water and food.
Initially, the PTR had good tiger counts, which came down to three in the 2014 census and zero in the latest report.
PTR officials, however, claimed that the presence of two tigers have recently been confirmed on the basis of the scat found by them in the jungles.
“A three-member advisory committee has been formed to improve tiger population in the PTR. The panel has proposed to set up at least four soft release centres inside the PTR by bringing nearly 100 deer in each of them from Betla forests,” said PTR Director Kumar Ashutosh.
The idea is to spread deer population in entire PTR, which currently is concentrated in Betla forests only, he added.
“Since the primary food for tiger is deer, we are trying to make it available to them amply to increase tiger population here,” said the director.
The proposal for two soft release centres has already been approved by the Government of India, he added. Each soft release centres at Baresadh, Lukaiya, Mundu and Dhardharia will be spread over 10 hectares, which will provide an amicable atmosphere for the breeding of deer.
The PTR director said grasslands would also be developed to arrange ample food for the deer brought from Betla forest, besides the construction of few check dams to provide water for the animals.
The aim is to increase the number of tigers by trans-locating the big cats from other reserves on the lines of the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, officials said, adding that they have already sent a proposal to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) through the state government for the translocation of tigers from other reserves.
Interestingly, six tigers were spotted in the last census of 2017. Beginning with 22 tigers in 1972, the PTR saw its heydays in 1995 when it had 71 big cats.
But then the fall began and only three tigers remained in 2014.
This was in a contrast with other reserves outside Jharkhand, as they reported a 30% rise in tiger count during 2010 and 2014. The PTR is spread over 1129.93 sq km of land, with a core area of 414.08 sq km and buffer area of 650 sq km.