The Karnataka State Board for Wildlife (KSBW), headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, has given in-principle approval for announcing 3,500-hectare Thimmalapura State Reserve Forest in Tumkur district as a conservation reserve for bears.
Apart from being a sanctuary for bears, Thimmalapura forest shelters wolfs, leopards and black bucks, among other animals. According to a census conducted by the Wildlife Awareness Nature Club in 2002, there were over 160 bears in the Thimmalapura area. The number might have increased since then. A proposal on declaring the area as a conservation reserve was sent to the government some time ago.
According to Sanjay Gubbi, conservation scientist and a member of the KSBW, Mr. Siddaramaiah gave the in-principle approval at a recent meeting.
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“Based on a proposal sent by the Divisional Forest Officer of the region in this regard to the government, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests will approve the proposal and the government will make an official announcement on the conservation reserve status for Thimmalapura,” he said.
Proposals on Jogimatti State Reserve Forest in Chitradurga district and Kamasamudram State Reserve Forest in Kolar district were also discussed in the meeting. A sub-committee headed by the Principal Secretary, Department of Forests, would examine the worthiness of the two forest areas to get either the wildlife sanctuary tag or conservation reserve tag and submit a report to the government, Mr. Gubbi said.
The government would take a decision based on sub-committee’s recommendation.
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According to sources in the department, both the 10,000-hectare Jogimatti forest and 11,000-hectare Kamasamudram forest area have rich diversity of flora and fauna.
Elephant parkThe government is also planning to set up an elephant park in Hassan district to tackle the issue of man-animal conflict in the State. The Department of Forests has appealed to the Revenue Department to allocate 20,000 hectares of land for the purpose.