Plan To Bring Tigers Back To Kawal 'Alive', Say Officials
Telangana’s Kawal tiger reserve, bereft of tigers for 13 years on the trot, can still become home to the big cat if a plan that is slowly taking shape to relocate a male and female from Maharashtra’s forests works out.
Hyderabad: Telangana’s Kawal tiger reserve, bereft of tigers for 13 years on the trot, can still become home to the big cat if a plan that is slowly taking shape to relocate a male and female from Maharashtra’s forests works out.
According to A. Shankaran, officer on special duty (wildlife) with the Telangana forest department, Maharashtra, which has a large number of tigers, has agreed in principle to translocate two tigers to begin with, provided Telangana can ensure an inviolate and safe space for the big cats in the Kawal reserve.
“Maharashtra has asked us to study if the habitat is good along prey base. This issue is alive. Chief wildlife warden Elusing Meru is also in communication with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) on this matter,” Shankaran said, responding to questions at a press conference along with principal chief conservator of forests (head of forest force) Dr C. Suvarna, and Meru.
Sankaran also said that one of the issues that has kept tigers that come to the corridor forests in KB Asifabad district from reaching Kawal was the lack of last-mile connectivity over a stretch of land where there are no forests.
Dr Suvarna, to a question on GO 49, that declared the corridor forests as a conservation reserve, being kept in abeyance, said the decision was taken by the government following concerns among people from the villages in the corridor. There has been a lot of confusion that the corridor forests will become part of the Kawal tiger reserve, and there will be restrictions, which is not correct. Dr Suvarna said the conservation zone was very similar to a reserve forest and the same laws would apply and no restrictions would be placed on people or activities, she said.
