From Naxal Stronghold To Wildlife Haven: The Turnaround Of Chhattisgarh’s Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve
“The USTR is an example of how effective conservation measures can do wonders to a wildlife sanctuary”: Varun Kumar Jain, deputy director of the USTR
RAIPUR: The Udanti- Sitanadi Tiger Reserve (USTR), once a Naxal stronghold, in east Chhattisgarh has turned a diverse and recovering wildlife landscape in the last half-a-decade, thanks to the effective conservation measures.
Populations of the herbivores such as chital and barking deer have grown manifold while five other species, nilgai (blue bull), wild pig, sambar deer, four-horned antelope and mouse deer, which were rarely sighted at least four years ago, have thrived to significant numbers now.
Moreover, the recent sightings of the endangered species, otter, Malabar pied hornbill, Malabar giant squirrel, and Indian flying squirrel, for the first time in the USTR, bears testimony to its diverse and recovering wildlife landscape, a forest officer said on Wednesday.
“The USTR is an example of how effective conservation measures can do wonders to a wildlife sanctuary”, Varun Kumar Jain, deputy director of the USTR, told this newspaper on Wednesday.
As per the latest herbivore report of the USTR, the densities of the chital and barking deer have been recorded at 3.92 per sq km and 3.32 per sq km respectively.
The distribution of these two species was recorded at 1.02 per sq km and 0.62 per sq km respectively in 2018.
The species such as nilgai, wild pig, and sambar, which were too rarely sighted to be recorded in 2018 in the wildlife sanctuary has been found widely distributed with their densities recorded at 1.11 per sq km, 11.9 per sq km and one per sq km respectively in 2026, as per the latest herbivore report.
The other two herbivores, four-horned antelope and mouse deer, which were too low in population to be recorded in 2018, have now been found in significant numbers in the wildlife sanctuary.
As many as 16 prey species have been recorded in the latest herbivore report in the USTR, which signifies its diversity and recovering wildlife landscape, Mr. Jain said.
Significantly, the wildlife sanctuary which once became tigerless due to poaching and lack of conservation measures particularly because of inaccessibility of a major part of the USTR due to Leftwing Extremism, is home to at least a couple of tigers, including a resident female wild cat, a forest officer said.
A massive 956 hectares of forests in the USTR were totally destroyed in a gap of 15 years earlier leading to disappearance of around ten lakh trees following the large-scale encroachments.
The entire 956 hectares has now been reclaimed by removing encroachments which helped growth of forest in the area in the last few years, Mr. Jain said.
Other conservation measures included monitoring of the reserve through satellite and drones to curb poaching of wild animals and artificial intelligence (AI)-based measures for the wildlife protection.
