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Inter-State Tiger Relocation Project

Posted on March 25, 2021 by admin1  36

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The Inter-State Tiger Relocation Project has been put on hold after the first attempt failed.

About Relocation Project

  • In backdrop of dwindling population of Tiger in Odisha, the project was initiated in 2018 wherein two big cats, a male (Mahavir) from Kanha Tiger Reserve and a female (Sundari) from Madhya Pradesh were relocated to Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Odisha, to shore up the tiger population in the state.
    • Both the big cats were selected for the translocation project as per the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) guidelines and in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the Government of India.
  • The project was estimated with a budget of Rs 19 crore and was started under the project of “augmentation and recovery of tiger population in Satkosia tiger reserve”.
  • It was the first inter-state tiger relocation project undertaken in India.
  • Objectives: The relocation was meant to serve two purposes —
    • Reducing tiger population in areas with excess tigers to majorly reduce territorial disputes.
    • To reintroduce tigers in areas where the population has considerably reduced due to various reasons.

Controversy over it

  • The two states have been at loggerheads over the relocation of Sundari after she killed two villagers living in the peripheral of Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Odisha a few months after being brought in from Madhya Pradesh.
  • Both states then wrote to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), with Odisha urging that Sundari be sent back while Madhya Pradesh remained reluctant.
  • This project was suspended by NTCA, a statutory body under MoEFCC monitoring tiger reserves, after it found that “pre-requisite conditions for reintroduction of tigers were not followed”.

Reasons for failure of Project

  • As per wildlife conservation activists and former forest officials from the state, the translocation was done in haste.
  • The field staff and tiger reserve management were not prepared.
  • The capacity for tiger monitoring was poor.
  • The local communities were not taken into confidence nor conveyed the benefits of tourism that tigers could bring them.
  • Protection was not up to the mark and the only undisturbed, prey rich habitat was already occupied by the old resident tigress causing Sundari to occupy human-dominated, disturbed areas.

 

Satkosia Tiger Reserve and why was it chosen?

  • Satkosia spreads along the magnificent gorge over the mighty river Mahanadi in Odisha.
  • It was established in 1976 as a wildlife sanctuary, Satkosia is a paradise of immense scenic charm.
  • It is one of the best ecosystems in the country, representing a diverse floral and faunal extravaganza.
  • The area was declared as Satkosia Tiger Reserve in 2007.
  • The area is also a part of the Mahanadi elephant reserve.
  • Satkosia is the meeting point of two biogeographic regions of India; the Deccan Peninsula and the Eastern Ghats, contributing immense biodiversity.

 

Initiatives for Tiger Conservation

  • Lidar-based survey technology: It is being used for the first time to deal with the challenge of human-animal conflict that was causing the death of animals.
    • Lidar is a method of measuring distance by illuminating the target with laser light and measuring the reflection with a sensor.
  • Official training: The National Tiger Conservation Authority has authorised official training to deal with emergencies arising due to tigers straying into human-dominated landscapes, tiger depredation on livestock and to work towards active rehabilitation of tigers.
  • Policy and management: The major changes are made in the policy and management of tiger populations in order to fully implement provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 like
    • Tiger landscape conservation plans,
    • Designation and notification of inviolate critical core and buffer areas of tiger reserves.
    •  Identification and declaration of new tiger reserves.
    • Recognition of tiger landscapes and the importance of the corridors and their physical delineation at the highest levels of governance, and
    • Integrating tiger conservation with developmental activities using the power of reliable information in a Geographic Information System database.
  • Project Tiger: It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
    • It provides central assistance to the tiger States for tiger conservation in designated tiger reserves.
    • India has around 2,967 tigers in the wild, with more than half of them in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, according to the latest tiger estimation report for 2018.
    • The population of tigers has increased by 33% since the last census in 2014 when the total estimate was 2,226.

                                                     (Image Courtesy: WPSI)

Source :DTH

 
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