JHARKHANDI TIGERS THRIVE IN THE WILD

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Unlike Rajasthan, tigers thrive in Jharkhand

Ranchi | December 28, 2005 9:15:06 AM IST

 

 

The spotting of a Royal Bengal tiger in a forest reserve in Jharkhand

only proves what environmentalists have been saying all along - that

the state's big cats are prospering even as they have all but

disappeared from Rajasthan where they once thrived.

" Yes, it's true. We have one of the largest tiger populations in the

country, mainly because we keep most of them out of the public view, "

conservationist Bulu Iman of INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and

Cultural Heritage) told IANS over telephone from Hazaribagh, where the

Royal Bengal was sighted last week.

 

There are no reliable figures for the number of tigers in the

Hazaribagh area but the 2004 census has confirmed that are 38 in the

Palamu Tiger Reserve alone in Jharkhand. This has made it a hot

tourist destination, in spite of the fact that the last tiger sighted

here was over a year-and-a-half ago.

 

The reason? Of the 1,026 sq km area of the reserve, only 25 sq km is

open to the public. The rest is the core area to which 37 of the

tigers are confined.

 

" This might make tiger viewing a rarity but the beneficial side is

that the animals are in no danger from humans - unlike other reserves

in the country, " a forest official at the reserve said.

 

Alarm bells rang when it was revealed in January that poachers had

decimated all the 16 to 18 tigers in Rajasthan's Sariska reserve. The

Central Bureau of Investigation confirmed this.

 

Although officials say there are over 3,700 tigers in India,

conservationists say the numbers are far less.

 

The alarming fall in tiger population prompted Prime Minister Manmohan

Singh to set up a Tiger Task Force to recommend corrective measures.

He also paid an overnight visit to the Ranthambore tiger sanctuary,

also in Rajasthan, to study the issue first hand and interact with

tribals who lived within the reserve.

 

In Jharkhand, the Palamu reserve, 140 km from Ranchi, is home to a

staggering 151,845 animals of 17 species - not to mention the

innumerable varieties of fauna that inhabit its lush green forests.

 

The animals include 62 leopards, 260 elephants, 13,147 chital, 469

sloth bears and 257 four-horned antelopes and a substantial number of

bison.

 

But tigers weren't always safe as this at the Palamu park, which was

established in 1966. From the mid-1970s, night tiger safaris were a

money-spinning venture for the forest department for almost two

decades till then central environment minister Maneka Gandhi banned

them.

 

" She was shocked when she heard about these safaris and gave us a

regular dressing down. How could we permit these bright lights mounted

on jeeps to disturb the tigers - and other animals - in what was meant

to be their natural habitat, " the forest official said.

 

From then on, private vehicles were permitted into the park only

during the day. But this created problems due to the large influx of

tourists.

 

" It started with carloads, then vanloads and then busloads. We hiked

the charges but people still kept coming. It was not just the people

that we had to contend with. More importantly, it was the pollution

caused by the vehicles, " the forest official pointed out.

 

From September the entry of all private vehicles has been stopped. Now

only forest department vehicles take tourists around the reserve.

 

" This has cut down our revenues drastically but we feel the welfare of

the animals is more important, " the official added.

 

And for those who want to commune with nature at Palamu, what better

way to do this than from a howdah atop Anarkali or Juhi.

 

The two elephants take the traveller through rolling grasslands deep

into the jungles where the sky is obscured by thick vegetation, the

twittering of birds a pleasant symphony, the squealing of elephants

intermingling with the barking of deer or the screeching of an angry

langur enforcing his territorial domain.

 

Languidly, Anarkali and Juhi sway through the dense growth, stopping

occasionally to gobble bamboo shoots, with the mahout constantly

discouraging them from wandering on to less well-known trails.

 

Take a break, climb up a watchtower and view the magnificent visage -

a water body, rolling grasslands, low shrubs and thick vegetation as

far as the eye can see.

 

As you come out refreshed, you can rest assured that the tigers are

safe from prying human eyes.vm/mj/mr

 

(IANS)