JAIPUR: As many as 25 tigers, out of a inhabitants of round 75 within the tiger reserve in Ranthambore Nationwide Park (RNP) in Rajasthan, have “disappeared” inside the final yr, Rajasthan’s chief wildlife warden Pavan Kumar Upadhyay informed RNP authorities Monday.
That is the primary time such numerous tigers has been reported lacking, formally. In 2022, 13 tigers have been reported to be lacking from Ranthambore Nationwide Park. Nevertheless, this occurred over a three-year interval, between Jan 2019 and Jan 2022.
The excessive variety of lacking cats has triggered panic in Rajasthan, with the chief wildlife warden constituting a three-member committee on Monday to analyze the disappearance of the tigers. The committee will evaluate the monitoring experiences and advocate motion in opposition to officers if any negligence by the park administration is discovered.
Uptick in man-wildlife conflicts in Ranthambore
The division’s major goal is to find the 14 tigers which went lacking in simply 4 months, between Could 17 and Sept 30, this yr.
An official order issued on Nov 4 stated that experiences of lacking tigers have repeatedly emerged from monitoring the assessments inside Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (RTR).
“Regardless of a number of letters despatched to RTR discipline director, no passable adjustments have been noticed. In accordance with a report dated Oct 14, 2024, there was no concrete proof of 11 tigers for over a yr, and substantial proof of 14 others has not been obtained for lower than a yr. Given these circumstances, an inquiry committee has been constituted to analyze the matter of the lacking tigers in Ranthambore,” the order stated.
Speaking to TOI, Upadhyay stated, “The committee will submit its report inside two months. There are some monitoring lapses that we intention to deal with. Not too long ago, I began gathering weekly monitoring experiences, which revealed that these tigers weren’t recorded by the digicam traps. Taking this example severely, the committee has been shaped.”
“The state forest division had shortlisted 24 villages within the buffer zone and periphery of RTR for relocation of villagers. The final such relocation happened in 2016, when households from two villages have been moved. Nevertheless, the method has been gradual. To mitigate human-animal battle, new programmes should be designed with the lively involvement of native communities,” stated a retired official.
Park managers, nonetheless, argue that the state of affairs is extra advanced than it seems, as RTR faces a number of challenges, together with overpopulation of tigers.
The reserve, already overcrowded, has seen a rise in human-wildlife conflicts. Tigers, being inherently territorial and migratory, have began dispersing in quest of bigger, undisturbed areas the place they’ll hunt, relaxation, and breed. Within the congested park, many tigers perished in territorial disputes over entry to prey and mates.
In accordance with sources, Ranthambore tigers are at the moment confined to a 900 sq km space. The state of affairs is predicted to worsen as each female and male tigers, notably older ones, battle to ascertain their very own territories.
“A Wildlife Institute of India examine, carried out between 2006 and 2014, discovered that the carrying capacitiy of Ranthambore Nationwide Park and Sawai Man Singh Sanctuary is not more than 40 grownup tigers. At present, there are 75 tigers, together with subadults and cubs. With greater than 10 tigers per 100 sq km, territorial conflicts are forcing weaker animals to go away,” an official acknowledged.
