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”Missing from the discourse focussed on Avni is the story of how a rising tiger population is forcing the animal to seek out new hunting grounds, as tigers need a huge prey base.” Sarati village in Yavatmal district, Maharashtra, was gripped by fear of Avni.
Below: A tiger trap in Mohda village, Maharashtra. * S. SUDARSHAN

Changing the stripes of conservation

Was the ‘man­eating’ tigress Avni that was killed in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal district #398299 a casualty of rising man­animal conflict, or was some other dynamic at play?
Serish Nanisetti on how development projects in tiger habitats and the fragmentation of migration corridors call for a rethink of conservation policies

he modest stretch of forest that’s hya Pradesh, made famous by Rudyard didn’t exist before 2003, has 1,057 vo­ of roads cut through these corridors, <> The Pench Tiger Reserve has
visible from the roadside is Kipling’s The Jungle Book. But is there ters, Vihirgaon has 719 voters, and and they have a deadly impact on tigers. 30 tigers. While an adult tiger
Tflanked on either side by cotton land to keep us with this increase? One Lone, another village where Avni About 16 tigers have been killed in road requires 25­40 sq km of
fields and toor dal (split pigeon pea) tiger was mapped travelling from Chan­ claimed a human life, has 417 voters. and train accidents over the past five forested area to enjoy
crop. A few kilometres away, on the oth­ drapur district, bordering the Tadoba­ years. Forty­two leopards have also sufficient quantity of prey, now
er side of this jungle, in Maharashtra’s Andhari National Park in Maharashtra, Frequent accidents come under wheels. And no one has there is one tiger for every 8­10
Vidarbha region, is National Highway 44 to the Satpura range near Hoshangabad On February 2, the Field Director of been keeping track of the number of
(NH 44). These fields are cultivated by district in Madhya Pradesh. Another tig­ Pench Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra is­ smaller mammals such as foxes, rabbits, sq km, leading to spillage.
the residents of Sarati village, where the er, fitted with a tracking collar, was sued a statement: “A road­hit case of a deer, wolves, snakes, peacocks and oth­ Vinod Thakur
Veterinary doctor and conservation activist
Forest Department has set up a camp to found to have travelled 500 km in 72 tiger has been reported near Devalapar, er wildlife that die on these roads.
search for a tigress cub. The cub belongs days, starting from its habitat in the 138 Harnakund, on NH 7, this evening bet­ “The problem is that we haven’t yet
to the litter of T1, or Avni, the tigress sq. km Bor Tiger Reserve in Wardha dis­ ween 7 to 7.30 pm. PTR teams, as well as mapped the tiger corridor, or any of the The rest have migrated,” says Thakur.
that was killed on November 2, 2018 and <> The problem is that we haven’t trict. It travelled through Amravati and the team of Nagpur division, have well­defined routes that the tigers may Big­ticket projects pose an even big­
caused a huge national outcry. yet mapped the tiger corridor, Nagpur before getting electrocuted on a reached the spot. There is a trail of be using for migration and resettle­ ger threat. For instance, according to fil­
The killing of the tigress may have or any of the well­defined farm in Wardha. blood, and we have also identified the ment. Adding to the confusion is that ings with the Bombay Stock Exchange,
slipped from public memory. But for routes that the tigers may be “He bag, waghache panje (see here, vehicle. Teams reported that the tiger is there are many forest tracts that abut the Birla Cement Corporation is plan­
many villagers in Wedshi, Vihirgaon, using for migration and the pug marks of a tiger),” says Nilesh nearby, and they have heard growling the roads. We want a problem­solving ning to set up a 3.9­tonne greenfield in­
Pimpalshinde, Borati, Ralegaon, Loni, resettlement. Adding to the Gaddamvar in Marathi, pointing to large too. They are monitoring the situation, approach to linear intrusions and habi­ tegrated cement plant with a 40 MW
and other villages in Yavatmal district, confusion is that there are pug marks in the dust. Gaddamvar and a proper decision will be taken as tat fragmentation. It is important to captive power plant in Yavatmal dis­
the terror of the tiger remains real. The works as a guide at the Tipeshwar Wil­ per the local circumstances. The rescue work on conservation, but it is also im­ trict’s Mukutban village. Mukutban is on
media had highlighted the Tipeshwar many forest tracts that abut dlife Sanctuary. Officials say that there team has left for the spot.” Such reports portant to work on maintaining connec­ the southern side of the Pandharkawa­
Wildlife Sanctuary as a hunting ground the roads. are now 18 tigers in the Sanctuary. “We of road accidents and electrocutions in­ tivity between sub­populations,” ex­ da Forest Department, where man­ani­
for the tigress, which had been declared Milind Pariwakam are getting visitors from Kolkata, Hyde­ volving tigers are barely noticed beyond plains Milind Pariwakam of the Wildlife mal conflict has captured media atten­
Wildlife Conservation Trust
a man­eater. But the tigress, when it was rabad, Pune and Mumbai. Most of them a small circle of tiger conservationists Conservation Trust. tion. How a cement plant and the
killed, was several kilometres away, in a manage to spot the tiger in its habitat and observers. Pariwakam had drafted a report on ancillary activities associated with it will
different forested tract. How the tigress span of 24 days in August 2018. The here and take photographs,” says Gad­ As a matter of fact, roadkill incidents the factors behind the fragmentation of affect the environment is anybody’s
sought out new territory, found a mate, Pandharkawada Forest Department re­ damvar. He adds that there were only are quite common on NH 44 (earlier the fragile tiger corridor. The report guess.
and had a litter in the small deciduous cords the names of Avni’s other victims: five tigers here in 2011, when he began known as NH 7), which passes through calls for a rethink of India’s approach to Of the 50 designated tiger reserves in
forest surrounded by agricultural fields Sonabai Bhosale of Borati, Lakshmi working as a guide. some of the most picturesque river val­ infrastructure development, and re­ the country, the 16 in central India form
and villages is still a matter of conjec­ Rampuchrey of Jira, Shankar Atram, Ji­ Safari visitors usually make a stop at leys, ridges, and forested zones in cen­ commends special pathways for wildlife a continuous tiger corridor. The Tipesh­
ture for conservationists. ra, and Chanduk Phutki of Adni. All the Hanuman temple located next to a tral India. In this region, NH 44, which so that their movement during migra­ war Wildlife Sanctuary has about 18 tig­
“We began cultivating here in 2003. these villages border the small forest small artificial lake on a ridge in Tipesh­ connects Srinagar to Kanyakumari, tion or resettlement is not affected. ers. Kawal, though designated as Kawal
The forest was right till here [he points which the tigress had made its territory. war. The luckier among them might get passes through small agricultural fields “Tipeshwar is one of the better­main­ Tiger Reserve in 2012, has seen a tiger or
to the road]. We cleared it and began A few months later, the tigress was shot to see frolicking tigers and cubs a few draped with rows of colourful saris to tained forests which visitors can check two only in the last four years. This year,
cultivating. That was the first time I ever dead by the son of a hunter tasked for yards away from the road and their pro­ keep wild boar at bay. out. There has been no man­animal a tiger got electrocuted after it came in
saw a tiger, and I cannot describe the the job by the Forest Department. tected vehicles. How the temple came conflict here ever since we evacuated contact with an electrified wire trap set
fear I felt,” says Gautam Patil, recalling Missing from the discourse focussed into being and why it is now deserted is Broken migration corridors the villages from the core area. Places up by poachers. The Umred Karhandla
the day he caught a glimpse of Avni dur­ on the ‘man­eating’ tigress is the story a success story of Indian conservation Wildlife conservationists have read the where such conflict occur are more Wildlife Sanctuary, on the other hand,
ing the monsoons, at the height of the of how a rising tiger population is forc­ efforts: nearly 500 villagers of Tipesh­ recent rise in the number of tigers as in­ than 40­50 km from Tipeshwar,” says is not a tiger reserve but is home to ma­
man­eater scare. Patil, a farmer, points ing the animal to seek out new hunting war were evacuated and the population dicating the existence of a broad and P.B. Panchabhai, District Forest Officer ny tigers. “The Pench Tiger Reserve at
to his five­acre field. “This might be a grounds, as tigers need a huge prey resettled outside the forest in Parva vil­ long migration corridor — a tongue of of Pandharkawada in Yavatmal district. present has 30 tigers. While an adult tig­
small forest, but we cannot see beyond base. Not too long ago, there was a real lage in 2010. Another 140 villagers from land in central India that is changing the er requires 25­40 sq km of forested area
a few metres during the monsoons. We fear of the big cat’s extinction. But Mihirgaon, inside the forest, were paid tiger story. This tiger corridor is criss­ Threat from big projects to enjoy sufficient quantity of prey, now
cannot cultivate anything other than things have changed since. Aided by ex­ about ₹7 lakh per family and relocated crossed by seasonal rivers such as the “The threat to tigers is not due to the there is one tiger for every 8­10 sq km,
cotton, as wild boars and other animals cellent conservation efforts, more outside the forest area in 2014. Godavari, Wainganga, Penganga, Dolla­ man­animal conflict. It is due to the leading to spillage. The tigers are mov­
raid the fields.” awareness, and forest management and While these two villages have been ra, and countless other smaller water large­scale projects that are coming up ing out to other forests to find prey. This
Just three lamp posts away is the control over poaching, the overall tiger pulled out of the forest and resettled, channels and ravines. near the sanctuaries. Forest Depart­ can be an opportunity to improve our
house of Gajanan Shyamrao Pawar. He population in the country has gone up. the hamlets on the fringes of the jungle According to officials of the Wildlife ment officials have trans­located a vil­ record and practices in wildlife conser­
went to his cotton farm abutting the for­ The 2006 tiger census by the Nation­ have expanded rapidly. Sarati, which Conservation Trust, about 24,000 km lage called Agarzari on the border of the vation,” says Thakur.
est to check on his crop on October 24, al Tiger Conservation Authority had Pench Tiger Reserve. But the resorts While the killing of Avni triggered ce­
2018, and never returned. The 30­year­ pegged the number of tigers at 1,411. Of­ that cropped up there after changes in lebrations among some villagers, there
old’s half­eaten body was later disco­ ficials involved with the 2018 tiger cen­ land use continue to operate. These use are also a few who see it differently. “I
vered in the jungle by his brother. “He sus operations say that the number is barbed wire and electrified fencing to am unhappy that the tigress is dead. It is
had food at 10 a.m. and went to the now closer to 2,600. “We have complet­ keep animals at bay, leading to acci­ a big loss. When the tiger scare was at its
farm. He didn’t return for lunch. A ed the tiger census that was begun in dents,” says Vinod Thakur, a veterinary peak, I was hopeful that this village
goatherd called to say he was missing. 2018, and the analysis is going on. We doctor and conservation activist who would be shifted. The tiger was merely
We began a search, and his body was will release the information by the end was part of the tiger census operation. protecting the jungle, which was its
found far inside the jungle at around of May,” says Y.V. Jhala of the Dehradun­ He blames the ‘four­laning’ of the na­ home,” says Gunawant Tekam, who
one in the afternoon,” recalls his moth­ based Wildlife Institute of India, which tional highway running through the runs a small shop near the fields that
er Indukala Pawar, sitting on the door­ deployed about 15,000 camera traps Pench Tiger Reserve and Kanha Tiger border the jungle in Sarati. “I am saying
step of their small house. Soon after kill­ spread over 400,000 sq. km in 18 States Reserve, and the widening of the rail­ this because I have seen the fear of the
ing Pawar, the tigress had disappeared for the census. way line in central India from narrow people as well as the changes in the
from the area. India began a quadrennial scientific gauge to broad gauge, for the fragmen­ landscape.”
tiger census, discarding the old pug tation of the habitat. “Even Jai, the tiger The depredations of Avni may have
More tigers than before mark counting method, from 2006. In which became famous as Asia’s biggest grabbed the headlines. But of far grea­
According to the records of the Princi­ 2010, there were 1,706 tigers, and in feline, fell to this development jugger­ ter significance, though missing from
pal Chief Conservator of Forests based 2014, the number jumped to 2,226, rais­ naut in the Umred­Karhandla Wildlife the mainstream discourse, is the chang­
in Nagpur, the tigress killed three other ing expectations of optimistic numbers Sanctuary. Jai’s cub, Srinivas, died due ing dynamic of tiger migration and
people — Gulab Mokashe of Wedshi vil­ for the 2018 census as well. to electrocution. Jai sired around 20 movement, which suggests that India
lage, Waghu Raut of Vihirgaon, and Nag­ The surging numbers have pushed offspring, but now very few of them are needs to rework its conservation and
orao Junghare of Pimpalshinde — in a the count of tigers to about 400 in Mad­ in Umred­Karhandla in Maharashtra. forest settlement policies.
CM A ND-NDE
YK