Date:09/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/09/stories/2009010957160400.htm

New Delhi

Focus on ‘troubled’ tiger reserves

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

NEW DELHI: The National Tiger Conservation Authority has called a meeting of the field directors of 12 of its “troubled” tiger reserves in the country seeking to re-assess the situation there.

The meeting, to be convened here in the Capital later this week, would focus on measures for active management at these reserves. “This is part of our ongoing programme to deal with the situation that is contributing to the skewed sex-ratio of tiger population,” said Rajesh Gopal, Inspector-General of Forests and Member-Secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

The tiger reserves that are being reviewed include Panna (Madhya Pradesh), Nagarjunasagar Srisailam (Hyderabad), Namdapha (Arunachal Pradesh), Dampa (Mizoram), Similipal (Orrisa), Kalakad Mundanthurai (Tamil Nadu), Valmiki (Bihar), Palamau (Jharkhand), Manas (Assam), Buxa (West Bengal) and Sanjay Dubri (Madhya Pradesh).

“In June last year we had looked at the individual problems of these tiger reserves and sent out a tailor-made advisory to each of them. At the meeting we will review the progress made, understand the shortfall, and then re-work our action plan for these areas. Most of these ‘troubled’ tiger reserves have law and order problems, low density of predators or prey which is resulting in the skewed sex ratio of tigers ,” said Dr. Gopal.