Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve

Source: The Week

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Context

• Demand for tiger skin, poaching and other administrative lapses at Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, are probed after wildlife activist Ajay Dubey files a complaint about negligence to conservation.

Details

Key points:

• Madhya Pradesh government begins probe into tiger poaching, other anomalies at Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve.
• Some of the issues that come under the purview of the act include, Illegal felling of trees and transportation of woods in the Nauradehi Sanctuary.
• Nauradehi Sanctuary was initiated in 2018 for the reintroduction programme; current tiger numbers are 16, in the new tiger reserve.
• Insufficient prey and health facility that are key factors that have led to degradation of tiger population in the reserve.

Poaching in India:

• The hunting of the tigers to supply the demand for body parts such as claws, whiskers, and bones also remained a large problem.
• Southeast Asia traditional medicine and black market and superstition are root causes of demand.
• Some of the poaching techniques used are electrocuting, using poisonous content, and trapping.
• Out of all the states, Madhya Pradesh has become the most affected one, where over 90 tiger mortalities have been reported in the last 29 months.
• Electrical shock from fences used in guarding crops and snares used on other animals are also some of the causes of accidental deaths.

Difficulties in Addressing the Issue:

• The low conviction rates for poaching discourage the enforcement of laws against the acts.
• There is no standard way for states to report tiger population which complicates the verification process.
• This is because human and animals compete for space and resources hence resulting to retaliatory killings by the villagers.
• Some of the tribal people who have always engaged in hunting the tigers may consider the act as a means of making money.

Recommendations:

• Enhance the vigour of anti-poaching strategies in reserves and anti-poaching operations against poachers.
• Forests need to be patrolled better and surveillance needs to be provided with better technology.
• Promoting the mutual cooperation with the local people and forest officers to resolve human-wildlife conflict.
• Encourage the local people living around tiger reserves to find other sources of income so that they can reject poaching.
• Step up public enlightenment crusades to stop myths used in trade in tiger parts and their presumed healing power.
• State wise tiger census data should be made public for cross verification of the government’s claims.
• Petition the authorities to increase the legal measures protecting the wildlife and to enforce severe punitive measures against poachers.
• Spending in research to come out with non-lethal methods, means and ways of safeguarding crops and livestock from tigers.
• Support the programmes that raise the quality of life of citizens and at the same time create value for the protection of tigers.

Tiger Reserves in India:

• Ecotourism in Tiger Reserves:
  • Encourages sustainable tourism that is the use of natural resources without adversely affecting the status of their resources.
  • Improves the local communities by offering education and financial prospects.
  • Provides relatively easy walking and nature viewing tours in famous reserves and contributes to the funds for conservation in other parts of the world.
• Regulations and Management:
  • Laws such as the Wildlife Protection Act (1972) reduce interference with habitats and guarantee the execution of tigers’ preservation strategies.
  • Conserves tiger forest space so the organisms can live comfortably and there is good balance in the ecosystem.
  • The exploitation of logging or the process of timber production is carried out sustainably within specific regions.
• State-wise Profiles:
  • Gives basic information such as size of the reserve, number of tigers, and the species of animals found in the reserve.
  • Consists of written records that affirm the station’s protection and data captured through GIS of the reserve’s land cover.
• Map of Tiger Reserves:

• Conservation Plans:
  • Some of these are as follows; Staff development programs as a way of managing the health sector.
  • There can be no stable and healthy Tiger populations.
  • The second application is the dispersal corridors linking the protected areas for a more extensive coverage of the ecosystem needs.

Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve:

• Location:
  • The Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve lies in Sagar, Damoh and Narsinghpur districts of Madhya Pradesh in India.
  • In the Madhya Pradesh it ranks seventh while in India it is at the 54th position.
  • Named after Rani Durgavati who is an epitome of bravery and Gond

• Forest Type:
  • Tropical mixed dry deciduous forests with a small portion of the teak forest.
• River:
  • Splits the Narmada and Yamuna River basin.
• Fauna:
  • Mammals: Tiger, leopard, wolf, jackal, Indian fox, striped hyena, sloth bear, deer – sambar, chital, barking deer, Indian bison, wild boar.
  • Birds, amphibians, reptiles & fish are some of the species of birds that are found in this region.
• Flora:
  • Teak, Sal, Bamboo, Mahua, Indian Gooseberry.

Sources:

The Week