Monday, June 15, 2009

Tigress found dead in Nagarhole Tiger Reserve





MYSORE: Close on the heels of the forest department officials seizing tiger skin at Mangala near Gundulpet, a tigress was found dead in Nagarhole national park on Thursday. The carcass of the tigress was examined by veterinarians, who have concluded that the wild cat died due to natural reasons. There are no external marks on the animal either, Nagarhole DCF D Yatish Kumar said. The carcass was noticed by the forest guards on patrol in Antarasanthe range of the tiger reserve. The DCF and ACF visited the spot and inspected the site. The animal is believed to be 12 years old. This is the second case of tiger death reported from Nagarhole-Bandipur tiger reserves in recent times. A month ago, the forest officials seized the skin of a tiger skin, which was suspected to have been poached inside the Bandipur national park.
(Note: From the November 2008 the incidents of tiger deaths and recoveries of tiger carcass started in the major tiger reserves of the country. More than 10 tigers died un-naturally in Kaziranga, 6 in Kanha, 3-4 in Corbett, 2-3 in Ranthambhore, similarly it happend in other tiger reserves also. Most of the deaths were concluded as natural deaths or due to infighting. The post-mortem were done hastily and finally the carcass were burnt in most of the cases, consequently the NTCA has issued a comprehensive guideline for the preliminary examination of the dead tiger by an expert team including a veterinarian and the disposal mechanism of the tiger carcass.
What do these deaths indicate? Has sensitivity to take tiger deaths seriously been drastically gone down in the field? Are the reserves lacking the required 'spirit' of tiger conservation in the present situation ?
Even after some good news relating tiger breeding in Ranthambhore and some other tiger reserves and tiger re-locations excercises in Sariska and Panna, the recent deaths of the tigers and the above raised questions have demoralised the conservationists and all those who really wish to see the tiger alive in our country for generations to come. Still we have time and I do hope for the best.-Ramesh Pandey)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is very sad.Is it possible to bred the tigers in captivity and then release in Jungles? why do you think the sensitivity is going down?

Nirupama Sriram said...

Hi Ramesh,
Having lived in Mysore and being an avid wild and bird life enthusiast, I cringe every time I hear about the beautiful wild animals killed either by accident or poaching. I just hope and pray that it would end and the future generations would have something called as "Jungle" to experience it.

You have an eviable job.
All the best,
Nirupama Sriram

Ramesh Pandey said...

dear nirupama
i can understand the feelings of a nature lover about the loss of invaluable wild species including tigers unnaturally.
we are loosing our jungles day by day under so called 'developmental needs'.
the situation seems very bleak some times.
thanks for your good words for my job..but i feel task to manage a protected area is like a war..and we need fighters..having passion for the wildlife apart from professional acumen.
thanks,
ramesh pandey