In the last two and a half months, five people have died in tiger attacks in Kumaon. The surprising thing is that three incidents are related to the hilly area Bhimtal. Whereas Guldars are seen every day in some populated area. A major reason for human-wildlife conflict caused by tigers and leopards is the overloading of tiger forests. Forest of tigers because their total number in the state is 560. Of these, 476 tigers were counted in the forests of Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar and Corbett.
Brainstorming is going on on a new proposal
Due to the impact on the carrying capacity of the forest, the weak tigers along with the leopards are being forced to move to new places. This is the reason why its presence was seen till Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary and Vridh Jageshwar in December. In such a situation, a new proposal is now being discussed which can save both tigers and humans by establishing balance in the forest. Under this, tigers can be shifted if proposals are received from other states. At present Rajasthan’s proposal is being considered.
Such is the number of tigers in Uttarakhand
If we look at the geographical location of Uttarakhand and the number of tigers, there are 216 tigers in the forests of Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar of Kumaon. These are called the forests of the Western Circle. In one of its ranges, Fatehpur, seven people died in a tiger attack between December 2021 and June 2022. The entire theory of the forest department regarding tigers was also put to rest here. Because, there were eight different tigers roaming in this one range. There were speculations then that the number of tigers was increasing. That’s why change is being seen. This speculation proved correct when the tiger census figures were made public in July last year.
Shifting is being considered
The number of tigers in Uttarakhand had increased from 442 to 560. After this, between November and December, five people lost their lives in Khatima, Tanakpur, Ramnagar and Bhimtal. After this the tiger reached the cold forest beyond Almora. In such a situation, on the instructions of CM Pushkar Dhami, top officials of the Forest Department are talking about considering shifting if proposals come from other states.
Think about these things before shifting
The process of shifting tigers to other states will not be so easy. First it has to be seen what will be the condition of their place of residence in the concerned state. The possibility of tigers staying safe in that area will be assessed. Biodiversity and food will be important parameters to suit it. After this, permission will have to be taken from the Union Forest and Environment Ministry as well as the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
Presence of tigers in these states apart from Uttarakhand
Tiger is present in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Goa, Arunachal, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Assam etc. Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttarakhand come in the top three.
Officials said this
Technical testing of Rajasthan’s proposal is going on. Proposals for shifting of tigers from other states of the country can also be considered. For this, permission from the Government of India and NTCA will also be required. – Dr. Sameer Sinha, Chief Wildlife Warden
