Sariska Tiger Reserve, Sarunda
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
The status of tigers and STR itself
As in 2019
From: Anindo Dey & Ajay Singh Ugras, A gender skew threatens future of tigers in Sariska, March 9, 2019: The Times of India
Park Hit By Fund, Staff Crunch; Shifting In Males May Not Work
It has been a long journey for a soulmate — and a hectic week — for tigress ST-9. From deep within the Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR) at Sarunda, the tigress travelled to Chamari Ka Bera, 25km away near the entrance to the park, in search of a male. But the journey proved futile.
The sole male tiger in the zone, ST-6, is ageing and at least four other females are looking for him. Wildlife experts believe that the tigresses may soon leave the reserve in search of a mate. That would be disastrous for the tiger reserve.
Compared to the flourishing Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (RTR), lack of political will and years of stepmotherly treatment have hit Sariska so hard that if immediate corrective steps are not taken, the dream of seeing its big cat population sustain and grow after the first tiger was relocated in 2008 might just fade away.
“There is an urgent need to relocate a male tiger,” says wildlife enthusiast Abhimanyu Singh Rajvi, a frequent visitor to STR.
Recently, male tiger ST-4 died in a territorial fight with ST-6, the third death after the reserve was repopulated in 2008. ST-1, the first tiger brought from Ranthambore, also a male, died in 2010 after villagers poisoned it. On March 19, 2018, four-year-old male tiger ST-11 died after getting entangled in a barbed wire fence laid by a villager close to a forest post adjoining Sariska.
Currently, the park has three males, eight female tigers and eight cubs, with ST-6 the dominant male.
“If steps are not taken to ensure that the tiger gets regular food, ST-6 may not survive. ST-6 is a famous tiger. After launching one of the worst attacks on the then RTR ranger Daulat Singh Shekhawat, it had gone for a long walk to Uttar Pradesh before returning from Bharatpur. With him gone, we will lose another male,” said Dinesh Verma Durani, founder and general secretary of Sariska Tiger Foundation and a member of the advisory committee for Sariska.
An option is to relocate male tigers from Ranthambore, which has a skewed sex ratio in favour of males, forcing many sub-adults to stray away. But not all think so. “While relocation to Sariska seems a bright idea, we will not be able to monitor the animal with our limited infrastructure. There is no inviolate space for a male tiger as villages have not been relocated from the reserve for long. A new male tiger without a marked territory may also pose a threat to cubs here,” said STR divisional forest officer Hemant Singh Shekhawat.
With 40 home guards that the park had for patrolling having left after not receiving pay for nine months, the park is short of staff and has 11 off-roaders in poor condition to monitor the entire reserve.
In 2005, an empowered committee, headed by the then parliamentarian V P Singh had highlighted more than 20 issues for the welfare and effective monitoring of Sariska. The panel had recommended three guards in one beat. Ideally, there should be 400 guards based on the committee’s suggestion.
Residents of only three of the 29 villages inside the reserve have been relocated, the last one way back in 2013. The post of DFO (relocation) has been vacant since 2014 with people being deputed temporarily for the job.
“The villagers have political patronage. Local leaders were against shifting as it would affect their vote banks. Moreover, the concept of villagers shifting voluntarily does not work,” said a forest official.
According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Rs 7.12 crore was sanctioned in 2018-19 for the reserve. The amount is shared by the NTCA and the state government in a 60:40 ratio. Though the NTCA had handed over its share, the state government has only released Rs 2.56 crore so far. “For the protection of tigers in an area of over 1,250 square km, the government has released less than half the sanctioned funds. How can effective monitoring be done,” said an official.
“For reasons of poor connectivity and lower sightings of tigers, Sariska has its disadvantages as far as tourism is concerned compared to Ranthambore. But to correct this, the forest department should open all dedicated zones to improve the frequency of sightings. That will then go a long way in improving the condition of the reserve,” says Durani.
The apathy of the government is also caused by a strong Ranthambore-based tourism and hotel lobby that sees a flourishing Sariska as a threat to their business. “Tiger T-24 aka Ustad, which was declared a maneater, was earlier proposed to be shifted to Sariska and supposed to stay there in an enclosure. The order was passed and even a vehicle was dispatched to pick up the tiger. But in the last minute, the process was stalled. T-24 in Sariska would have boosted tourism in a big way. Similarly, several requests for relocating a male tiger to Sariska went unheard due to the interference of an influential lobby in the forest department,” Durani added.
“Funds follow performance and Ranthambore has been doing very well compared to Sariska. But sometimes it should also be seen the other way. With better infrastructure, the performance of Sariska will improve. It is high time the state government gives Sariska its due and takes immediate steps for tiger conservation. Ranthambore has the pride of place among all tiger reserves, so there shouldn’t be any fear of competition from Sariska,” said an expert.
