'Bear enclosure in Bannerghatta is part of conservation'

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, SEPT. 30. Can the Forest Department build animal rescue shelters and enclosures for endangered and rare species within the Bannerghatta National Park area? This is the question posed by environmentalists, specifically the Bangalore-based Institute for Natural Resources, Conservation, Education, Research and Training (INCERT), which has also charged the department with violating laws regarding forests and wildlife.

The specific complaint of INCERT is that vegetation has been destroyed to build enclosures for bear and tigers and the shelter for animals rescued from circuses and some orphaned in the wild. Those related to the institute say that any construction or removal of vegetation, including dead wood from a national park, violates the Wildlife (Protection) Act and the Forest (Conservation) Act.

Recently, the Supreme Court also ruled in clear terms that a State government or chief wildlife warden could not give permission for any activity which damaged the habitat of wild animals within a sanctuary ``unless such activity is necessary for the better management of the wildlife itself.'' The Solicitor General of India had clarified that before any such permission was given, the Supreme Court should clear it.

INCERT also alleged that the Forest Department was responsible for the deaths of elephants in the vicinity of Bannerghatta National Park as they were forced to come out and raid crops, and that there were also two cases of villagers being trampled to death. Some elephants had been electrocuted. Tender norms had also been flouted for the work involved in clearing the forest and building animal enclosures.

The Deputy Conservator of Forests, Mr. B.M.T.Rajeev, who is in charge of the Bannerghatta National Park, told The Hindu bears were endangered species and the 40-acre enclosure for them was part of the conservation process. It was planned to have a ``bear safari'' similar to the lion and tiger safaris. It was completely enclosed, and since bears had the habit of climbing trees or scaling walls, there was a dry moat around it. It was similar to the Bear Safari in the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad, he said.

About trees having been ``bulldozed'' for the enclosure, he said, ``We have tried to avoid felling trees and that is why the enclosure is shaped like a snake, with natural curves.''

The enclosure was relatively small, inside the national park itself, and could not divide the habitat of wild animals.

On the charge of tenders not having been called for, Mr. Rajeev explained that tenders were called for but the rates quoted were too high. When the Bannerghatta National Park received grants from some agencies, including those of the Union Government, they stipulated that the work should be done fast and within a time- frame. So the Wildlife Wing of the department permitted it to be done as a department's work. It was not given to any private party and the Range Forest Officer was in charge of the project, following department rules.

About the charge that the elephant population in the national park was coming down, the Deputy Conservator pointed out that the national park was at the tail-end of a vast elephant habitat within which animals moved freely. Elephants foraged over vast areas and travelled considerable distances to feed. One side of the habitat -- the Bannerghatta National Park -- reached Bangalore, while the other went into Nagarhole, a larger national park.

Referring to the allegation that electrified fences were causing elephant deaths, he said that farmers who did this were warned and then punished. The Forest Department personnel also talked to villagers about the necessity of eco-development. No elephants had been killed in or around Bannerghatta recently, he asserted.

The Deputy Conservator explained that the national park was set up in 1974 with the primary objective of providing recreation to Bangaloreans in a natural environment, and conservation had not been neglected either. Much of the controversy raised about the national park was because of certain local vested interests who included quarry operators.

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