08 February 2012
Tiger poaching dropped nearly 60 percent in 2011 as compared to the previous year, though it continues to pose a major threat to the survival of the big cat in the country, a leading NGO said.
According to the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), 13 tigers were hunted last year as compared to 30 in 2010 - a decline of 57 percent. The bodies of poached tigers, seized bones and skins were computed to arrive at the figures. Click on date for more details
Bhadra- Kudremukh
Local communities are important stakeholders in wildlife conservation. They hold vital information about state of forest resources but human activities can pose threats to conservation. As population densities of these communities living in or around the forest areas continue to increase, livelihood activities such as grazing and resource extraction pose threats to these fragile ecosystems. Hence, there is an urgent need support and promote advocacy and public awareness for tiger conservation in and around Bhadra and Kudremukh regions in Karnataka. Local communities require education and support to become informed caretakers of these parks, so that they can compliment forest officials and local conservationist’s efforts to strengthen tiger conservation initiatives in Karnataka.
The Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the biologically diverse Western Ghat region. The sanctuary supports a rapidly increasing tiger population and was notified as the 25th Project Tiger Reserve of India in 1998. The sanctuary with an area of about 500 sq.km falls within the Global Tiger Conservation Priority Unit, TCU-55 (Wikramanayakeet.al1998) identified by Wildlife Conservation Society(WCS)-WWF on prioritizing areas for tiger conservation globally. Bhadra wildlife sanctuary is also potentially superior to other better known tiger habitats in Karnataka state and has many ecological features that make it a priority area for conservation.
Kudremukh National Park is also situated in the Western Ghats region covering an area of about 600 Sq. km. The landscape is covered in wet ever-green, semi-evergreen, moist deciduous forests and grassland- shoal habitat at the highest elevations. Kudremukh National Park also comes under the Global Tiger Conservation Priority-I,in TCU-555.
During the past year, D. V.Girish along with his team of field assistants have made over 60 field visits to 85 villages and interacted with local communities and authorities. Through their tireless and committed work, the team was able to highlight and solve many problems related to illegal hunting, infrastructure projects, and other human impacts such as logging. They also worked to promote suppression of forest fires, decreasing road kills along the highways that pass through the sanctuary and newly developing tourism pressures. Through continuous interactions with local people and officials, the team was able to garner local support for conservation.
This effort resulted in the locals helping the team to report poaching incidents, stop unplanned tourism and infrastructure projects (such as building of unnecessary roads, water tanks and civil structures) inside the reserve.
The team also effectively collaborated with and motivated the local forest department staff at all levels and educated them about effective monitoring, prevention and control of hunting, logging and forest fires. Their continuous and effective monitoring helped the forest officials in curbing poaching and other illegal activities within the forest areas substantially. The effectiveness and success of these activities on conservation is now being reflected in increasing animal densities as revealed by recent research data from CWS and WCS India scientists.
The Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the biologically diverse Western Ghat region. The sanctuary supports a rapidly increasing tiger population and was notified as the 25th Project Tiger Reserve of India in 1998. The sanctuary with an area of about 500 sq.km falls within the Global Tiger Conservation Priority Unit, TCU-55 (Wikramanayakeet.al1998) identified by Wildlife Conservation Society(WCS)-WWF on prioritizing areas for tiger conservation globally. Bhadra wildlife sanctuary is also potentially superior to other better known tiger habitats in Karnataka state and has many ecological features that make it a priority area for conservation.
Kudremukh National Park is also situated in the Western Ghats region covering an area of about 600 Sq. km. The landscape is covered in wet ever-green, semi-evergreen, moist deciduous forests and grassland- shoal habitat at the highest elevations. Kudremukh National Park also comes under the Global Tiger Conservation Priority-I,in TCU-555.
During the past year, D. V.Girish along with his team of field assistants have made over 60 field visits to 85 villages and interacted with local communities and authorities. Through their tireless and committed work, the team was able to highlight and solve many problems related to illegal hunting, infrastructure projects, and other human impacts such as logging. They also worked to promote suppression of forest fires, decreasing road kills along the highways that pass through the sanctuary and newly developing tourism pressures. Through continuous interactions with local people and officials, the team was able to garner local support for conservation.
This effort resulted in the locals helping the team to report poaching incidents, stop unplanned tourism and infrastructure projects (such as building of unnecessary roads, water tanks and civil structures) inside the reserve.
The team also effectively collaborated with and motivated the local forest department staff at all levels and educated them about effective monitoring, prevention and control of hunting, logging and forest fires. Their continuous and effective monitoring helped the forest officials in curbing poaching and other illegal activities within the forest areas substantially. The effectiveness and success of these activities on conservation is now being reflected in increasing animal densities as revealed by recent research data from CWS and WCS India scientists.
