It's a fairly standard story - tigers come into conflict with humans, prey on valuable livestock, and in response, the tigers are poisoned.
The latest to die are two young male tigers who w
ent into the Keladevi Sanctuary, perhaps looking for new territory.
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The Keladevi Sanctuary is the buffer zone for the Ranthambhore tiger sanctuary. The river Banas divides the forest in this area into two. To the southwest of the river is Ranthambhore National Park and to the northeast is Keladevi.
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There are just 5 Gujar families in the area where the two tigers were killed. Gujars are primarily herdsmen; they live in small settlements in the forest. Some of them have been arrested for this killing.
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But why blame them? What would you do if two scary predators came within a whisker of your livestock and family? Can you see yourself doing anything different?
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Apparently, these two tigers had been visiting that area for the past one and a half months, and preying on livestock. The forest department did nothing. No compensation was given, and no discussions were initiated with the Gujar families to keep them or their livestock safe. No wonder they tied a couple of goats as poisoned bait!
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Clearly the real problem is with the system, with forest department authorities who don't know their elbows from their backsides! Poor funding, poorly trained staff, poor tracking, and appallingly poor management of the forest, its people and its animals!!
Argh. @%#$@&#@*& !!!
The latest to die are two young male tigers who w
ent into the Keladevi Sanctuary, perhaps looking for new territory..
The Keladevi Sanctuary is the buffer zone for the Ranthambhore tiger sanctuary. The river Banas divides the forest in this area into two. To the southwest of the river is Ranthambhore National Park and to the northeast is Keladevi.
.
There are just 5 Gujar families in the area where the two tigers were killed. Gujars are primarily herdsmen; they live in small settlements in the forest. Some of them have been arrested for this killing.
.
But why blame them? What would you do if two scary predators came within a whisker of your livestock and family? Can you see yourself doing anything different?
.
Apparently, these two tigers had been visiting that area for the past one and a half months, and preying on livestock. The forest department did nothing. No compensation was given, and no discussions were initiated with the Gujar families to keep them or their livestock safe. No wonder they tied a couple of goats as poisoned bait!
.
Clearly the real problem is with the system, with forest department authorities who don't know their elbows from their backsides! Poor funding, poorly trained staff, poor tracking, and appallingly poor management of the forest, its people and its animals!!
Argh. @%#$@&#@*& !!!
Sad & intensely frustrating, like a lot of things in our country
ReplyDeleteI agree with you.. just that i wldnt agree with the FACT that Ranthambhore does not have serious lack of funds.. Central govt grants enuf funds to tiger reserves like Ranthambhore, Kanha, Bandhavgarh or any high profile, enough tourism generating TRs. If a level headed guy manages the park who has the zeal and passion towards serving his duty am sure things cld be far better than it is now.. But I do hope, sense prevails and things are looked upon seriously.
ReplyDeleteReally sad.... feel so helpless.
ReplyDeleteiwant to be in touch with u
ReplyDeleteur vision is great