Visiting dignitaries of SAARC countries have been invited to witness India’s success story in re-introduction of tigers in the wild in Rajasthan’s Sariska Tiger Reserve. That the wildlife authorities are comfortable enough to bring a group of foreign dignitaries attending the SAARC Environment Ministers’ meeting in Delhi to the park itself is a re-assurance on the well-being of the three tigers -- two females and a male -- re-introduced to the 800 sq km sanctuary after the place lost all its tigers in the wild some time back allegedly due to poaching.
The SAARC dignitaries are scheduled to reach Sariska this Tuesday afternoon and will stay overnight at the palace hotel there. They will have a round of the reserve on Wednesday morning starting at 6-30 for two and a half hours. At least three countries -- Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal -- have tigers in their wild and if the visitors are lucky they might sight the Sariska felines though the park authorities do not want to make any assurances in this regard!
“The woods are worth a visit. Of course, the tigers are there and we are proud of their rehabilitation in the Sariska forest,” says Sunayan Sharma, Deputy Director of Sariska Tiger Reserve, who talked to The Hindu on phone from Sariska on the eve of the SAARC delegation’s visit.
“We will try to show them the tigers and that is logical as well. But sighting tigers is not everything for the park itself is wonderful place,” he said referring to the forest resplendent after the rains.
The visitors would be given an idea of the tiger rehabilitation programme carried out in Sariska from June 2008 to February 2009 under the “Species recovery plan” by air-lifting three animals from Ranthambhore National Park and releasing them in Sariska through a presentation by Rajesh Gopal, member-secretary, Tiger Conservation Authority of India, on the eve of their park visit.
The authorities may not accept it but the interesting aspect about Sariska now is that with three radio-collared tigers in its woods they are in a position to locate a tiger any time though knowing their location itself is no guarantee for sighting. “The sightings cannot be arranged and they should not be,” announces Rajpal Singh, member of Rajasthan’s Empowered Committee on Environment.
“I was there this last week-end and despite the fact that we were aware of the presence of tigers at a distance of 100 metres we could not spot them due to the thick foliage,” he points out.
“Spotting the tigers is easier now due to the monitoring system. The field staff spot them almost on a daily basis. In fact if their whereabouts are not known for a long period that becomes a cause for worry,” Mr. Sharma notes. The current information is that the male is wooing the first female introduced to the park and they are in the Sariska valley.
After being a much maligned place -- in the wake of losing all its tigers -- Sariska is fast turning into a conservation show window for India and the authorities are slightly fighting shy of the publicity -- it can lead to a big rush, especially of week-end visitors from Delhi.
