Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Sep 08, 2007
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Online edition of India's National Newspaper Saturday, Sep 08, 2007 ePaper |
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Front Page
Sunny Sebastian
No fear: A sambhar stands at peace in Sariska Tiger Reserve on Friday as no tiger is left in the sanctuary.
SARISKA: Almost three years after the disappearance of tigers from the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Alwar district of Rajasthan, the leopard has taken over as the apex animal. The sanctuary, showcased as an ecological disaster by conservationist in the wake of the exit of the tiger, still retains the name—with the hope that the animal could be reintroduced one day—but the habitat is undergoing changes. The tiger, once the cynosure of all eyes visiting the sprawling park located some 190 km from Delhi, has disappeared from the official brochures. The leopard or the panther (Panthera pardus) virtually rules the roost both in the woods and in the publicity material, along with a host of other lesser carnivores such as hyena, caracal and jackal. It was some time in September-October 2004 that the last of the tigers in Sariska—brought under the Project Tiger in 1978—was officially spotted by the park authorities. The world outside came to know about their disappearance only later in 2005, after newspapers reporting it. “The tiger was reported last time in the park around Diwali period in 2004,” noted P.S. Somshekhar, the Field Director of Sariska Reserve. Of course, even when the park had reported 24-25 tigers in years prior to the disaster, the sightings were not very common here unlike in the other Project Tiger sanctuary in Rajasthan, the Ranthambhore National Park. The absence of the tiger in the park perhaps went unnoticed for long also due to this. With no tigers around, leopards have virtually taken over this Aravalli terrain, classified as dry tropical forest, though now emerald green after the monsoon showers. “There has been an increase of 15 per cent in the number of leopards here after the disappearance of tigers,” Mukesh Saini, Assistant Filed Director, Sariska Reserve, informed. The reserve, closed to the public in July, August and September, had a census of animals in May this year. The results are yet to be declared. However, indication are that the park now has about 60 leopards. The number of ungulates too has gone up. “There has been an increase of 15 per cent in the number of ungulates as well,” Mr. Saini informed. “The current density of ungulates is as good as in any of the best parks in the country such as Kanha, Nagarhole or Ranthambhore,” said Rajpal Singh, a member of the State Task Force for Tiger, adding, “The sanctuary is fit for re-introduction of the tiger”. “We are still maintaining the protocol of a tiger reserve here,” Mr. Somshekhar explained. “The area surely misses its importance as well as basic character as long as the apex animal is not there,” he observed. Apart from the emergence of the otherwise shrub-habitat loving, domestic animal lifting (goat, calf, dog) leopard, the absence of the tiger for three years has also brought about many changes in the area. “Some of them are attitudinal. The villagers have lost the terror of the tiger in the wild. Now they feel free to let in their cattle inside,” Mr. Somshekhar noted. Apart from the changes in the prey-predator balance in the area, the absence of the big cat has taken away the aura of the forest. The result is laxity in upkeep on the part of the authorities; and renewed attempts from the mining lobby to start operations in the buffer areas. The park is waiting for the return of the tiger. The promise made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the Task Force he had set up on the tiger in the wake of the crisis, amounted to restoration of Sariska to its former glory. The Task Force, headed by environmentalist Sunita Narain, in its report had said: “The Task Force strongly recommends rehabilitation and protection of Sariska as a tiger reserve, but urges once again that this will only be possible if there is a clear plan of action, and determination and commitment to implement its different facets.”
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