Never knew a tiger was so valuable

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In natural habitat

People like us who are uninitiated and unversed in matters relating eco-system services rendered by tiger reserves could not have imagined that a detailed study as conducted by an Indo-Australian team would throw up such astounding results in regard to the benefits that accrue by saving tigers in their natural habitat. The Indo-Australian study team was headed by the distinguished professor Dr. Madhu Verma who is in the faculty of the renowned Indian Institute of Forest Management located in Bhopal. Perhaps the babus who work the environment or wildlife wings of various governments too would have been unaware of the facts that have come to light now as a result of the study.

 Yes, we knew that saving tigers would mean saving forests and thereby protecting the environment and bio-diversity. Wherever forests have been cleared the tigers too have disappeared from there. No wonder, the numbers of tigers have fallen to 2000-odd in 2014 from around 40000 at the beginning of the last century. There was massive cutting down of forests during the last century after independence to create farmlands in order to cope with the prevailing food shortages. Perhaps the Himalayan terais, the happy hunting ground of Jim Corbett, were the worst sufferers. With the disappearance of terai forests, tigers too disappeared barring in the sanctuaries that were created later for them. Similar efforts to bring large tracts of forests under the plough in the south, too, sounded the death knell for tigers, particularly in the Western Ghats, except in small pockets.

 Unfortunately, earlier there was very little concern for environment and wildlife in the functioning of the governments. Later, when the precipitous fall was observed in tiger numbers it was Mrs. Indira Gandhi who launched the Project tiger in a bid to save whatever numbers possible. Thanks to the Project, the numbers rose from a low of around 1100 to the 2000-odd tigers that are now confined within several forested reserves that have been created for them.

Even these are frequently under threat from poachers who make a large amount of money from its various body parts. It used to be said that a dead tiger is more valuable than the ones that prowl around the forests. But obviously, as it has now emerged from the new research, the tiger is far more valuable when alive than when it is dead.

The other threat it faces is from governments’ plans for development. Jairam Ramesh, an MIT-trained politician, had proposed when he was Minister of Environment, “go” and “no-go” areas for developmental activities in forested lands. Certain thick and pristine forests that were lush with vegetation and brimming over with wildlife were marked by him as “no go” forests where in no case, as against the “go” areas, land could be allotted for developmental activities. Because of his stiff opposition to exploiting forest lands for development various proposals for mining and industry suffered delay. The government of Manmohan Singh, an acclaimed economist, curiously found Ramesh’s continuance as untenable and he was moved out of the Environment Ministry. And, soon the government dismantled the concept of “no-go” areas in the interest of the development lobby.

 It is the tiger’s misfortune that the forests in which he roams about are rich in minerals, especially coal, that are deeply embedded underneath – all the goodies that create wealth. Every government covets them for that dreadful word “development”. Contextually, therefore, the Indo-Australian study for valuation of the tiger and the eco-system services its reserves render is timely and propitious. Tigers’ habitat is under constant threat, humans being self-willed and self-inclined in this Anthropocene Epoch think of nothing else except their own well-being. Hence, unless monetary values are attached to the tangible and intangible benefits offered by preservation of the tiger and his habitat the authorities may never wake up to the need to hold them dear and preserve them for the community’s well-being.

In early 2015 a report of another study of economic valuation of six tiger reserves conducted by the Indian Institute of Forest Management revealed that these reserves were worth 1,49, 000  crore (US $93 billion app. at current rate of exchange) but generate only 5% annually of what they are worth. The tiger reserves surveyed were Corbett, Kanha, Kaziranga, Periyar, Ranthambore and Sunderbans. While calculating the economic value the experts took into account the range of their eco-system services which included, inter alia, water provisioning, gene pool protection, carbon storage and sequestration. The basic idea of the study seems to have been to encourage the governments to enhance their investments in such forests to ensure the well-being of people by harvesting the benefits of their eco-system services.

The latest research, on the other hand, seems to have been focused on the economic value of a tiger in its natural habitat. The same reserves were taken up for the study but the focus was on the value of each tiger. The Indo-Australian team has come up with a finding that is earth-shattering in at least in one way – that of the values that have been estimated for tiger.

 They have calculated that saving two tigers gives more value than the cost of India’s Mangalayan Mission (Mars Mission). While the Mission cost Rs. 450 crore (app. $70 billion) saving two tigers gives a capital benefit of Rs. 520 crore (a little more than $80 billion). As India is home to 2226 adult tigers (according to 2014 tiger census) the capital benefit for country would be Rs. 5.7 lakh crore – an astronomical sum.

According to them, therefore, saving tigers makes good economic sense. The six tiger reserves that they took up for study gives the country a secure capital of $230 billion and we have 50 such reserves that will give an astronomical value in stock capital for the country. All this capital flows out of the eco-system services that the tigers and the reserves they roam around in render. Yet, as Mrs. Madhu Verma, the leader of the team said, “We still do not have adequate information or understanding of eco-systems, all the species and the various ways in which these enhance human well-being that we can estimate a value for each of them”. The embedded meaning is, therefore, un-assessed stock value could take it much higher than what has been estimated.

Mrs Madhu Verma, perhaps, rightly says that “Ignorance of such values influences public policies decisions including investments and funding that may impact their protection status with serious implications on human well-being”. The study, thus, tried to give a huge nudge to the government of India to allocate more funds for the tiger reserves to ensure healthy eco-systems in them so that flora and fauna prosper and multiply therein.

It has also been indicated that only 2.3% of the geographical area of the country is covered by the tiger reserves. Perhaps, instead of slicing away parts of these forests for developmental purposes like the Ken-Betwa Rivers "inter-linking" project, there is need of increasing the area under such forests to enhance the gains for the countrymen from their tangible and intangible benefits.

Hopefully, the government at the national level will pay enough heed to the results of this study and initiate appropriate action for more investments in tiger reserves for their better management. Let this study not be shelved to gather dust in the record rooms of the ministry concerned, like what happened with Mrs. Verma’s report on economic valuation of the Upper Lake of Bhopal conducted under the aegis of the World Bank around a couple of decades ago. Had the report been acted upon seriously, perhaps, the Lake would not have come to such a sorry pass.

22^nd July 2017

*Photo from internet

Bhopal Notes - 16 :: Tiger at the town's doorstep

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For the last few days the vernacular press was bristling with reports of tiger sightings close to Bhopal. Everyday there would be reports of sightings close to human habitation in Kerwa area or near the Kaliasot River. Despite a veritable prohibition on people visiting these areas, the intrepid, inquisitive and the curious could not be restrained. They would assemble in pretty large numbers and many photographs, though indifferently shot, appeared in the newspapers. The tigers also became a little bolder and they were increasingly found in inhabited areas. An elderly lady, a morning walker, had sort of a close brush with one of the tigers as she found it one recent morning uncomfortably close. Knowledgeable sources say there are at least as many as seven tigers in the Bhopal forests of Kerwa, Samardha, Kathotia and so on. No wonder, it has now been claimed that in the last 3 months there have been more tiger sightings in Bhopal than in the state’s half a dozen Tiger Parks.

Thankfully, one of the tigers was nabbed yesterday in the morning. It seems to have strayed into the complex of the state’s Agricultural Engineering Institute where its weight proved to be too much for asbestos-sheet roofing and it collapsed in a heap in an enclosure. Here it was tranquilised, caged and packed off to the Van Vihar National Park, but not before it had given the fright of their life to a few of the Institute workers. It has since been translocated to the Panna Tiger Reserve. The question that, however, arises is the tiger was nabbed more than 10 kilometres north of Kerwa on Berasia Road, that is at the other end of the town and surprisingly the Forest Department seems to have had no inkling that it had skirted the town and covered such a long distance. In doing so it must have passed through densely inhabited areas. A controversy has been kicked up in this regard by one of the retired foresters.

Before the capture that took place the other day, the National Green Tribunal of Bhopal had issued notices to the government and other connected authorities to indicate the measures take for protection of the tigers that were close to human habitation as also protection of humans from the predator. The mandate for the government is to protect both which appeared a trifle tricky. For the last few years there have been constant reports of tigers’ presence close to the city but nothing much seems to have been done. There are claims and counter claims. Some people say that tiger numbers have gone up in the neighbouring Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary and the fresh arrivals are looking for their own territories.. The other view is that the prey-base in Ratapani has collapsed and hence tigers are wandering out of the sanctuary looking for prey. They seem to have found easy prey in cattle near the Bhopal jungles and, therefore, two tigers are reported to have settled down here. The forest department is yet to clarify which of the two claims are close to the actual position on the ground. Apparently, they are yet to scientifically study the problem.

Experts say the Bhopal jungles are part of the Ratapani wildlife area where humans have mindlessly encroached and degraded the forests. The tigers seem to be in no mood to give up their ancestral territories and hence their permanent encampment in the area. Whatever is the truth, the government needs to ensure that no more human establishments are allowed in the area and let the tigers be – leave them alone.

Meanwhile, around the site of the caging of the tiger they have found pug marks of another tiger. Apparently there are more tigers around than what the forest department seems to be aware of.

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Photo: from the internet

TIGER CENSUS 2014

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A lot of cheer has been brought to tiger and wildlife lovers by the latest Tiger Census conducted in late 2014. There seems to have been a revival in its numbers after the dismal count of 2006 when it had registered 1411 tigers. A marginal increase to 1706 was registered in 2011. In 2014, however, the growth was robust of around 30 per cent taking the tiger tally up to 2226. Singing paeans for the conservation efforts undertaken between the last two censuses, there is apparently an environment of backslapping among the tiger bureaucracy, the tiger NGOs as well as conservationists in general.

That 2226 tigers in a country that used to host around 100,000 of them at the turn of the 20th Century and around 40000 in 1947 is nothing much to write home about does not appear to throw cold water on their enthusiasm. We have been pretty profligate in the matter, particularly after we started ruling ourselves in 1947. The tiger numbers rapidly declined because vast tracts of forests were felled for increasing food grain production, for industrial growth and to meet the needs of a rapidly rising population. Within 20 years or so after independence the number of tigers in the country was estimated to have fallen down to around the same as what it is today – about 2500. Tiger numbers were in decline even during the time of Jim Corbett, the famous hunter who used to roam around submontane region of Kumaon a district in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh and hunt down man-eaters. He had also gone on record about it. Our authorities, however, did not pay heed to what he had said and the numbers came plummeting down from around 40000 to 2500 in mere twenty-odd years.

I still remember the “grow more food” campaign initiated during the 1940s and 1950s because of general shortage of food for reasons of the after-effects of World War II and inclement weather in the then food bowl of the country in its eastern parts. Vast tracts of impenetrable jungles given over to wild animals in the Himalayan Terai region were felled to raise crops for the rising needs of an increasing population and the needs of the post-partition influx of millions of refugees from Pakistan. As was expected the country lost heavily not only its rich wildlife – from elephants to tigers to rhinos– as also varied plant life of the region. Such clearances of forests had been carried out elsewhere in other regions as well causing disappearance and/or degradation of wildlife habitat seriously impacting their numbers. Apparently a desperate act to meet the human needs, no consideration was shown towards the other living beings.

It was only in the 1960s when it was realised that there was serious decline in tiger numbers that the process of tiger conservation was initiated, culminating in 1972 when the government decided to institutionalise tiger conservation through its Project Tiger. A census that year had revealed existence of an abysmal number of only 1827 tigers in the country. Launched in 1973, Project Tiger has become one of the most successful conservation measures through creation of protected areas known as Tiger Reserves which seek to maintain a viable population of the species in each in their natural environment. And yet, despite adding to the number of Tiger Reserves, investment of enormous financial and human resources the number of tigers has fluctuated above or below the 3000 mark since 1972, having never been able to get to even 4000.

That the number is going to increase in the future regardless of the efforts made is doubtful. The current government at the Centre has won the last elections on the plank of “development” and, hence, generation of more power and setting up more industries are its prime movers. Its minister for environment and forests, Prakash Jawadekar, had declared soon after his appointment that his ministry would not function as “roadblock” for development projects, indicating that projects for mining, setting up of industries and creation of infrastructure would not be held up for vital environmental clearances. Recently he gave away environmental clearances to 50 projects. Before him, Minister Veerappa Moily of the Congress government had cleared as many as 70 development projects within 20 days. He was brought in as his predecessor Jayanti Natarajan was considered a “roadblock” and had accumulated a large pendency of developmental projects which was suspected to have caused the economic slow-down. As the previous and the current governments are greatly persuaded by the concept of economic growth reckoned in terms of rise in gross domestic product (GDP) and with the Prime Minister keen on implementing his “Make in India” slogan damage to environment and forests is certainly on the cards. Unfortunately, the natural resources for both, power and industry sit underneath dense forests – generally the habitat that is conducive to wildlife. In this energy-hungry country more and more coal is going to be mined for want of any other alternative source of energy and for industrial growth more and more minerals are going to be mined resulting in denudation of more and more forests. In such a scenario does the tiger have a chance?

Politicians in power are seldom environment-friendly. They have always at the back of their minds the votes that can be harvested. In Madhya Pradesh Panna Tiger Reserve might not have lost all its tigers in 2008 had the political executive intervened to stop poaching o tigers on the advice of the experts. The chief minister also delayed demarcation of the buffer zone of the Reserve to facilitate mining by his crony. While doing so he said that he wouldn’t put people’s livelihood on the line only to save the tigers in the reserve. e alsoHH And, for preventing relocation of resident tribal people he has refused to convert Ratapani Sanctuary near Bhopal, the capital, into a tiger reserve despite approval from the Centre. Since the sanctuary has added to its tiger numbers forests near Bhopal get the spill over threatening theirs as well as human life.

That is another threat to their survival. If more are packed into their current confines they will either fight for territory or migrate out of the reserve. In either case they expose themselves to risks.Already fights for territory have taken the lives of at least two tigers and another simply walked out of the reserve only to be brought back mercifully without coming to harm. If tiger numbers are to be raised the government must see its way through to provide more space for them.

In the Management Effectiveness Evaluation report on Tiger Reserves 2014 the reserves have been rated in four categories. Only 15 out of 39 reserves have been rated very good and just 12 as good. The rest are all satisfactory (8) or poor (4). Efforts need to be made to ensure a rating of very good for at least 24 (60%) reserves raising their economic value by the next census. It has to be brought home to the state governments concerned that there is money in tiger reserves as has been shown by the first ever economic valuation of six reserves in 2014. Their economic value has been pegged at Rs.1.50 lakh crore – a very substantial amount.

Somebody has very aptly said that man– its sole predator – is solely responsible for the current precarious numbers of the tigers and, therefore, it is only man who can save tiger in the wild. An “umbrella” species, tigers provide space for several species to flourish in the vast areas they cover. A tiger website says “In India, more than 350 rivers originate from tiger reserves. These reserves also sequester carbon, provide oxygen and slowly release ground water to regulate floods. Protecting the tiger will in turn protect these vital habitats.” Vital as these roles are for us humans what is needed is strong governance in the reserves for their all-round development, if necessary, with the help of external experts.

 Clearly, the country has to treasure and value whatever it has.  But, Modi’s “achchhe din” (happy times) for the tigers in the wild do not seem to be anywhere near the horizon yet.

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Photo: From the Internet

Sumatran tiger threatened by oil-palm

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Looks like India's escalating imports of palm oil from Indonesia will see the end of the Sumatran Tiger. While we in India would seem to be lucky in still hosting some tigers, we, however, might well be the reason for extinction of the tigers in Sumatra.

Despite frequent reports of tiger deaths due to poaching, negligence of the forest staff and due to natural reasons, we still have around 1700 tigers in our forests and their population, from all accounts, is increasing. Cubs have been sighted in Panna Tiger Reserve which had been cleaned up by the poachers not too long ago. Cubs have also been sighted in Ranthambore in Rajasthan where there seems to be a problem of plenty. Tigers are reported to have moved out of the Reserve and have been known to have migrated to the adjoining Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh.

Although we crib and criticize every time a tiger is lost in the context of what is happening in Indonesia, another tiger country, we are considered to be doing rather well for conservation of the species. Our efforts at tiger conservation are earning kudos in Indonesia. Not only the political executives are being commended for their foresight and farsightedness, the conservationists are being congratulated for their efforts that have yielded positive results. Many have, therefore, suggested that Indonesia should look westwards towards India to save the Sumatran tigers.

Down to around 300 in 1970s, the Royal Bengal Tiger has recovered in numbers. With a far more superior way of counting, the count is now more reliable and is pegged at 1700-odd. Not a figure to write home about considering the vastness of the country, yet given the numerous challenges, it is a healthy count with,

perhaps, scope of improvement. Experts have opined that the country cannot host more than 2500 to 3000 tigers now, given the state of its forests. As is well known, most of our tiger habitats are in dense forests beneath which are our mineral wealth, especially coal, that great driver of development and economic growth. These forests are, therefore, always under threat from the mining and “development” lobbies.

Indonesia, on the other hand, is miserably down to just 400-500 of the Sumatran tigers. Having lost Balinese subspecies 1930s and Javanese in 1970s the only species it now has the Sumatran which is confined to a few patches of tropical forests of the island. These remnants of the Indonesian species are fighting a losing battle against human greed which is promoting progressive encroachments into their habitat.

Although some reports of increase in their numbers are reported from isolated pockets which are now conservation areas, yet their days seem to be numbered with increasing deforestation and mushrooming oil-palm plantations. The government, however, claims that the rate of deforestation has gone down yet the fact remains that from the point of view of tigers it has been of little help. They are now confined to isolated small patches of forests with no scope for fresh genetic infusion into their small in-bred numbers putting them under serious existential threat. As it is, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has included it in the “critically endangered” list.

Oil palm plantations are perhaps the single largest reason for decimation of the Sumatran species of tigers. Their profitability and contribution to the coffers of the country have been the persistent reasons for disappearance of the country’s once-abundant forests. More and more forests are being cleared legally or illegally to accommodate oil palm cultivation progressively reducing the tiger habitat. Over the last 25 years Sumatra has lost two-thirds of its lowland forests that are the most conducive habitat for the island’s tigers.

We in India are largely responsible for the falling numbers of the Sumatran tigers. Two Asian biggies, China and India, are the biggest importers of palm oil from Indonesia, India of late having overtaken China. Demand in this country for the oil appears to be insatiable. Palm oil constitutes about 80% of the cooking oil used in India and the increasing imports at the rate of approximately 3 to 4% per annum are fuelling deforestation and replacement of natural forests by oil palm plantations in Indonesia in a bid to raise palm oil production The production has now hit 50 million tonnes in 2012, India alone having imported more than nine hundred thousand tonnes.

Used mostly as edible oil, palm oil is cheaper than other vegetable oils and is generally consumed by the economically weaker sections of our society. With more and more disposable income becoming available to them the demand for palm oil has been constantly going up necessitating greater imports. A big chunk of the oil is also used in the manufacture of cosmetics, like creams, moisturizers, lipsticks, shampoos, etc. With rise in the number of middle classes the consumption of cosmetics has also been going up. The multinational cosmetic manufacturers have established manufacturing bases in the country and their products are being aggressively promoted in the media. More than 13 to 14% of the imported palm oil is used in manufacture of these cosmetics

The trend being what it is, destruction of the tropical forests in Indonesia is not going to stop any time soon. Perhaps, it would help if we in India tempered down our demand for the oil. If we did that we would not

only be saving the natural tropical forests of Indonesia, we would also be saving their rich flora and fauna, including the Sumatran tiger.

If we have been able to save our forests and the tigers therein to a great extent, it should not be too much to ask for measures to protect the tigers in Indonesia.  After all it is a matter of protecting the “Global Commons” we share. Like in our case, the forests in Sumatra will survive if their tigers survive. Tigers, with their presence, in natural forests are a vital cog in preventing and mitigating global warming. Let us, therefore, not invite the odium of knowingly contributing to the extinction of the Sumatran tiger with all its undesirable consequences.

Photos: From the Internet

Bhopal- with tigers in its peripheries

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Regardless of the tons of toxic wastes littered in the Union Carbide factory site, the Madhya Pradesh government has been pursuing with the Centre a proposal for awarding the status of Global Environment City on Bhopal. The city already has a few of its components, such as some lakes – one of them even a Ramsar Site – hills and, of course, a lot of greenery which, though, of late has appreciably diminished at a rapid pace. Nonetheless, the government continues to pursue the ambition of having the city declared as an Environment City. What should strengthen the government’s claims in this regard is occurrence of a recent phenomenon – that of the big cats trying to convert the city into their haunt. With the wildest of wildlife in the city none would ever think of denying the sobriquet that the government so earnestly seeks, more so after the state lost its “Tiger State” sobriquet.

A tiger had been roaming the jungles near the town for a couple of years. It strayed from the nearby Ratapani Sanctuary and came close to the town near the dam known as Kerwa. It had on occasions been seen wandering around in the massive complex of the local Judicial Academy. It would, however, retrace its steps and get back to the jungles close to Chandanpura near Kerwa and make meals of a few livestock in the forest villages. Sighted with two cubs in April last, the state Forest Department made all possible arrangements to ensure that they did not come to harm. Yet the tigress met its inevitable fate last June at the hands of poachers who cruelly electrocuted it. One was, however, expecting such a denouement, given the efficiency and commitment of our foresters. It seems, the poor creature was raising a family but was ruthlessly eliminated.

That, however, was not the end of the story. A few days ago a badly wounded tiger cub, presumably one of the two that were sighted in April, was found in the jungles close to Kerwa near Kathotia. Kathotia, incidentally, also has caves and rock-shelters with primitive rock-paintings like those in Bhimbetka, a World Heritage Site, around 30 kilometres away from Bhopal. The poachers seemed to have attempted trapping it and in trying to free itself the cub got severely wounded; its hind legs even got paralysed. It was rescued and brought for treatment to Van Vihar, an open zoo in the middle of the town that has somehow been given the status of a National Park. The vets there couldn’t save it and it died the other day.

The forest department has confessed that it failed in monitoring the movement of the tiger family. In fact, it did not even get whiff of them. No wonder the tigress and one of her cubs were lost to poachers. This is despite that there is an intense campaign to save tigers. Recall the NDTV “Save our tiger” campaign only a few weeks ago! The department is investigating the killing of the tigress but there has been very tardy progress. Even the National Tiger Conservation Authority has asked for a report in this regard. Clearly, because of ineptitude of the forest department precious wildlife outside the protected areas continue to remain unsafe.

To add to the discomfort of the Forest Department recent unconfirmed reports indicate that there are as many as three tigers – a male, a female and a cub (apparently the one that somehow escaped the poachers’ attention) –roaming around in these forests. The cub seems to be old enough but is unable to make a proper killing. The forest department is not yet clear about their numbers and are, therefore, collecting pug marks. One wonders whether all these tigers are heading for the same fate as the ones earlier.

The department has a stock argument of inadequacy of staff. It says that proper protection could be provided to the straying tigers only when the Kerwa and adjoining areas are converted into a “conservation area” which would ensure funding for appointment of the required personnel. Can one buy such an argument? After all, the strength of foresters is determined according to the spread of forests and there must be personnel for guarding these very forests. Why can’t they take care of the wildlife as well? If their strength is inadequate why more forest guards cannot be recruited? There is enough money and countless unemployed men and women available for appointment. It’s a pity that despite the Prime Minister’s directions about a year ago the Tiger Protection Force has not been created so far in the state.

According to the foresters Ratapani Sanctuary has become a little crowded for tigers on account of increase in their numbers and hence they are straying into the Kerwa area. That could be so. But that could also not be so. Maybe, the prey base has shrunk in the sanctuary with not enough ungulates to go round, forcing tigers to wander out of the Sanctuary for greener pastures. Not that Kerwa has a big enough prey base but at least cattle of the villagers, easy preys, are available. Whatever the reason, the tigers seem to be here to stay, having been here for well over two years now.

It is not tigers alone that seem to like Bhopal. Leopards, too, make frequent forays into it. They have been sighted in the Indian Institute of Forest Management Complex, the National Judicial Academy, in the vast grounds of the Indira Gandhi National Museum of Man and, of course, in Kerwa.

It seems like the old times when, growing up in Gwalior in the midst of tiger-county in 1940s, we would hear frequent reports of tiger-sightings in the outskirts of the town. My eldest brother even claims to have seen one along with his friends around the mid-forties on the hillock near the Medical College that has a Scindia deity and another in the Tigra Dam area that is now being intensely colonised.

With tigers and leopards in its periphery, Bhopal is acquiring a certain uniqueness. Whether the status of Global Environment City is awarded or not, one wishes to God that these creatures and their new habitat in Kerwa are protected with all the resources that the government can muster.   

Photos: 1. Lush jungles near Kerwa; 2. Tigers, photo taken from the net; 3. Kerwa dam 

(Photos of Kerwa taken by Bandana Bagchi)

Once again - the Kerwa tiger

Very encouraging reports have been appearing in the newspapers about the forests around the Kerwa and Kaliasot dams close to Bhopal, a town of more than 1.8 million people. The camera traps installed to monitor the movement of the tiger that has repeatedly been seen in these forests have recorded a thriving wildlife population. Apart from the tiger, among the animals trapped in the camera are leopards, bears, wild boars, foxes and a species of cat that has so far defied identification and has not been seen for quite some time. It is through the instrumentality of the tiger that the forest department has acquired the knowledge about the presence of several species of wildlife in these forests. That they have survived for so long in the vicinity of such a large town despite the depredations of unthinking men is quite a wonder. None, however, knows how diverse the flora in these jungles is.

I recall having read in the net some of the impressions of these jungles recorded by a few former students of the National Law Institute University, an institution of national repute, built close to Kerwa. They used to go on treks in the jungles surrounding the Institute and had recorded glowing reports about them. They did not see tigers but they used to frequently see the other big cat, the leopard, apart from various other herbivores. These boys would venture into the forests for the sake of pleasure meaning no harm to their denizens. However, with the news of the wildlife population appearing in the press now, shikaris have started frequenting the forests. Fortunately the forest department has got wise about the goings on, thanks to the frequent sightings of the tiger.

The tiger seems to have settled down in this environment. Barring a few cattle-kills it has not harmed humans so far. In fact, according to reports that appeared in the vernacular press, a herder even chased it away with the help of his cane. Apparently, it finds the habitat conducive (recently reported to be excellent) and has, therefore, not moved back to where it came from, presumably the Ratapani sanctuary. As indicated earlier, either the prey-base has shrunk or the tiger numbers have gone up far too much for it to find itself comfortable in the sanctuary. The sanctuary should have become a tiger reserve but for the intervention of the Chief Minister who appears to be somewhat anti-tiger conservation. The Ministry of Environment & Forest of the government of India has already approved its conversion into a tiger reserve.

The forest department has, however, been mulling various options to deal with the tiger which, it seems, is kind of a problem for them. There was a proposal to fence off the Kerwa and Kaliasot dam areas. The latest, however, is to relocate it to Madhav National Park Shivpuri, which from available reports has inadequate prey-base to support tigers. There were reports of a tiger residing in it but it seems to have moved away to adjoining Kuno-Palpur forests. One wonders as to why the department is keen to take this trouble. If a tiger that is the denizen of the forest is confining itself within its boundaries there seems to be no reason to physically move it to as far away as Shivpuri. Quite rightly, an experienced forest officer, the former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, JJ Dutta, has reminded the department of the case of the tiger that was relocated to Panna from the Pench Tiger Reserve. Guided by its strong homing instinct, it had started marching towards Pench. Luckily it was not poached before it was apprehended scores of miles away from Panna Tiger Reserve. Another forest old-timer, PM Lad, in whose time Van Vihar was created, has said that it is the humans who have encroached into the tiger territory and not vice versa. He felt that any harm coming to the tiger in relocating it would make a dent in the process of conservation of the species.

Obviously, everyone, including wildlife experts, wants the tiger to be allowed to rest in peace in the surroundings it finds congenial. One wonders whether the forest department, led by the Forest Minister, is being forced into action by colonisers and/or construction lobbies who are very close to the current government. One recalls that the tiger is moving in areas that include Chandanpura where the Sanskaar Valley School of the Dainik Bhaskar Group is located and where land-use change was proposed in the now-cancelled Bhopal Development Plan 2021. Curiously, all the forest areas around the town are being eyed by these lobbies and, perhaps, that is the reason for widening of the road to Kerwa that has been undertaken at the cost of about 10000 trees which are going to be felled.

Instead of translocating the tiger the forest department would do well to listen to voices of reason and take steps to ensure that it is comfortable in the forests of Kerwa and Kaliasot and that it in no way harms the humans in and around them. Such an action would retain the biodiversity of these jungles in their natural state for the benefit of everyone, including the people of Bhopal who, in fact, will benefit the most for reasons that hardly need reiteration. If for this reason the forests would need to be fenced, so be it.