It should be renamed as Kamal Tiger Reserve,” suggested an excited tourist at the Kawal Tiger Reserve (KTR) in Adilabad district as he animatedly discussed about the trend of tiger influx in the park.
The arrival of a couple of wild cats, a male and a female, within a span of three months has already had conservationists raising toasts.
“More tigers will come as they feel safe here,” predicted KTR wildlife researcher Jogu Yellam. “A lot of effort has gone into strengthening anti-poaching activity,” he stated, giving reasons for tigers to arrive at KTR in the coming months.
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There is also the talk of urgency in developing tiger tourism even as conservation efforts are strengthened at the facility. “Kawal should soon become an ecological paradise and tiger tourism here should rival the one at Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in the neighbouring Chandrapur district of Maharashtra, if not improving upon it,” observed K. Ashwin Rao, a realtor from Hyderabad, also a well known eco-tourism enthusiast from Hyderabad.
Even those who are not die hard wildlife enthusiasts are likely to welcome development of tiger tourism at the place which is evident from the excitement of Srinivas Reddy, a medicine and drug store owner from Karimnagar.
He became the first tourist to have sighted a tiger in the wild from the safari jeep on which he was moving in the jungles on December 20.
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“The government should look into this aspect seriously as there is a lot of potential for tiger tourism at KTR,” stated Mr. Rao from his experience of the park.
“The management of the place should be professional, locals should be trained to become naturalists before incorporating them in the scheme of things,” he suggested some of the measures.
The conservation enthusiast also underlined the need for sensitising tourists about some of the finer aspects of eco-tourism. The eco-tourism enthusiast drew underscored the need for people maintaining silence and refraining themselves from polluting the area.
“We have plans of increasing protection for the tigers and a Tiger Protection Force unit has been sanctioned for Kawal,” revealed KTR’s Jannaram Division Deputy Director B. Ravinder.
“In view of the vulnerability of the big cats, we will monitor the movements of visitors too,” he added, while giving details of the conservation plan.
KTR should soon become an ecological paradise and tiger tourism should rival the one at Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra, if not improving upon it. -K. Ashwin Rao, Eco-tourism enthusiast