KOCHI: Rajesh Gopal, the former secretary general of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), has termed the government’s plan to cull tigers in Wayanad as appalling. He said, “The proposal reveals the pathetic situation in which we are living.”
“Somebody should brief the minister (A K Saseendran) about the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972. I don’t have words to express my anguish upon hearing such a statement. We used to cite Kerala as the best example of being proactive in conservation. We never expected such statements from the state,” said Gopal, a former IFS officer who was associated with Project Tiger for 35 years. He is currently with the Global Tiger Forum.
“The tiger is in Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972. Hunting of that are species in the schedule is forbidden. As per Section 11 of WPA, chief wildlife wardens can permit hunting of tigers if they are satisfied that the animals endanger human life. To hunt a tiger, we have to prove it’s a man-eater,” he said. On translocation of tigers from Wayanad to other sanctuaries, Gopal said a detailed study is needed before such options are considered.
Database will help track tiger movement: Gopal
Gopal said the Wayanad sanctuary is part of the Nilgiri biosphere and has contiguity with two tiger-rich areas located in the two states (Kerala and Tamil Nadu).
“The forest department has to create a database using camera traps and repositories. Tiger is a territorial animal and will be travelling to the Bandipur and Mudumalai reserves from Wayanad. The database will help find the tigers travelling to the two reserves,” Gopal said. He said officials will also have to compute the carrying capacity of Wayanad sanctuary before declaring overpopulation. “The NTCA has issued standard operating procedures for translocation of tigers. It has to be followed,” he said.
Senior forest officials said there have been discussions on translocation, but no proposal has been made.
Meanwhile, Chief Conservator of Forest (North) K S Deepa said the department is planning to conduct a study on the tiger population in Wayanad sanctuary as part of the master plan for mitigation of man-animal conflict. “We will study the tiger population, distribution of prey base and livestock. As of now there is no document to prove that there is overpopulation of tigers in Wayanad sanctuary,” she said.