ADILABAD: Tiger population increased in other parts of the country, but not at the Kawal Tiger Reserve where they have gone extinct. The latest Tiger census report shows a decline in tiger occupancy in Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
Tigers have disappeared from several areas, including Kawal Tiger Reserve and Chennur of Telangana, Sri Venkateswara National Park in Andhra Pradesh, Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Odisha and the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, the report said.
The report emphasised the need to pay attention and act quickly in these areas to reverse the trend of extinction of small populations and avoid negative human-tiger interactions.
Management activities like prey augmentation, habitat restoration and protection could help these States recover their tiger populations, it added.
Local forest officials clarified that “extinct” in this context means that no resident or breeding tigers were found in the core area of the reserve.
However, local officials acknowledged that more than a dozen tigers had been spotted in the buffer zone and corridor areas, indicating that the population may have migrated.
Officials said human disturbance and delayed relocation of villages are the main reasons why tigers have been unable to settle in the region. no tigers have settled in the 2,014 sq km of Jannaram, Khanapur and Utnoor forest areas in the past decade.
The tigers migrated from the Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary to the Adilabad forest division by crossing the Penganga river but were unable to enter the Kawal Tiger Reserve due to the national highway blocking their path.
Increased poaching activity
Officials have expressed concern over increasing poaching activity in the area, with poachers reportedly using electric fencing to kill tigers. To combat this, the officials are planning to install underground electric cables to prevent the poachers from accessing electric wires. Additionally, they are working to improve the grasslands to benefit herbivores.
The officials suggested another way to attract tigers to the area. They note that both the Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary and Tadoba Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra have smaller areas than the Kawal Tiger Reserve, and that tigers in Maharashtra may migrate towards the Kagaznagar and Adilabad forest areas.