There is a growing worry in the Forest department in Chandrapur. Too many Tigers in Tadoba region. How this happened is secondary. Need of the hour is corrective action. Hence the forest department is shifting 6 Tigers from Brahampuri in Chandrapur to Sahydari Reserve.
Over the last year 1500 cattle deaths, and 12 human mortalities were reported. This prompted the state government to shift Tigers. Painganga is a good area to shift as it has a habitat like Tadoba.
For the first time in history Tigers are being relocated due to their high density. In the past Tigers were relocated only when poaching had wiped them out in some parks.
The Tiger identified to shift are the sub adults looking for territories. Identification of these Tigers is done to avoid any conflict among adult Tigers. It was analysed that male to female ratio is in favor of males. Hence more sub adult males are being moved. This proposed move has been sanctioned. Hopefully Sahydari and Painganga wil hear more growls in the near future.
What led to too many Tigers in Tadoba region?
None had heard of Tadoba about 10 years back. Besides hardly any visitors went for safaris here. So what went right for Tigers in Tadoba in such a short time? This will be an interesting case study. Was it tourism? Or, was it proactive forest management? In my opinion it was a combination of two. But the later should get more credit for the same. It will be good to share results of such case studies with other states with negligible Tiger population. States like Chattisgarh, Bihar, Orissa, and Uttar Pradesh will benefit immensely from the Tadoba case study.
