Tamil Nadu has registered an estimated increase of 35 tigers, taking the population from 229 in 2014 to 264 in 2018 as per the ‘Status of Tigers, Co-predators, and Prey in India’ report released by the Union Ministry for Environment, Forests and Climate Change on Tuesday.
The estimate showed significant presence of tigers outside the four tiger reserves in Tamil Nadu, demanding more focus by the Forest Department in those areas in terms of conservation.
The survey covered forest divisions and wildlife sanctuaries that are connected to the four tiger reserves namely Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR), Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR), Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) and Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) and their buffers.
Camera traps placed in these places outside the tiger reserves recorded the presence of individual tigers, pointing at the metapopulation dynamics of the species in the landscape.
As per the report, 34 individual tigers were identified from images captured by 273 camera traps placed in the Nilgiri wildlife division comprising forest ranges of Sigur, Singara, North Eastern Slopes, Kotagiri, Coonoor, Kattabettu and Ooty North. Camera traps in Mukurthi National Park captured six individual tigers.
Coimbatore forest division, which is connected to STR and the Nilgiris eastern slope, has been mentioned as an important tiger habitat where camera traps recorded 11 individual tigers. “Better protection, minimising human-wildlife conflict and mitigating developmental projects are some of the key recipes for conservation of this division,” said the report.
Individual tigers were also recorded in cameras at Gudalur forest division (11), Erode forest division (10), Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary (4), Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuary (4), Srivilliputhur Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary (2), Nellai Wildlife Sanctuary (2) and Kanyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary (1).
“What we need to do now is to sustain the population for which the habitat and prey base should remain healthy. This requires professional management”, said Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) Sekhar Kumar Niraj, one of the two nodal officers for the tiger estimation in Tamil Nadu.
Noting that Tamil Nadu has done a great job in conserving and protecting tiger population, A.J.T. Johnsingh, former dean of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) said that these areas should be well managed further with dedicated officers.
According to him, the upper Nilgiris should be treated on a par with a tiger reserve as protection of the area is very important for wildlife, biodiversity and water.
A senior official with the Department felt that Theni-Megamalai-Srivilliputhur area has the potential for the dispersal of the population. “This cluster should be raised to the level of a tiger reserve,” said the official.
People’s participation
With a diverse prey base contributing to the increase in tiger population at STR, environmentalists call for more participation of local people and effective vigilance to maintain the growth in the coming years.
The reserve covers an area of 1,411.6 km and is located in the strategic confluence of Western and Eastern Ghats in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. Tiger Status Report 2018 revealed that 126 tigers use the reserve, while 83 tigers are found within the reserve. Also, the density of tigers in the reserve was estimated at 3.75 per 100 km. “The tiger population has grown gradually over the years — 18 tigers in 2012, 54 in 2014 to the present 83”, said a senior official at the Forest department who attributed the increase to a diverse prey base and less human-animal conflict.
The report pointed out that developmental projects and mining in Sathyamangalam landscape, human settlements inside the reserve, Sathyamangalam-Chamrajanagar and Hasanur-Kollegal roads that pass through the reserves affect wildlife movement are a cause of concern.
