Lucknow: The Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR), which was hitherto known for man-tiger conflict, has finally managed to turn around the situation with awareness campaigns, electric fencing and ban on picking mushrooms found inside the forest and considered a delicacy.
As per official data, 11 people died in tiger attacks in the area in the past three years. This is a considerable drop from over 26 recorded encounters between man and tiger in 2017 that resulted in 16 fatalities.
All those killed were locals living in over 524 villages located within a distance of one kilometre from the PTR. Close to 4 lakh people are estimated to be living in these villages which are in very close proximity to the reserve.
During its inception in 2013, around 20,000 people living inside the core forest areas were moved out, with little resistance, but no large-scale efforts were made to relocate people living near the buffer zone of the reserve.
“In 2013 and before it, we were promised jobs as guides and other forest staff. We were told that our lives would improve because people from across the country would visit the reserve which would lead to development of the area,” said Khushnam Singh, former head of Darwal village in Puranpur area. “The authorities have forgotten us and left us to fight the tigers alone,” he complained.
The man-animal conflict escalated so much in 2017 that just a few months after taking oath as the state’s chief minister, Yogi Adityanath visited Pilibhit and held an emergency meeting with officials regarding the crisis.
{{/usCountry}}The man-animal conflict escalated so much in 2017 that just a few months after taking oath as the state’s chief minister, Yogi Adityanath visited Pilibhit and held an emergency meeting with officials regarding the crisis.
{{/usCountry}}The man-animal conflict in the horseshoe shape reserve was caused by several factors.
Sameer Zargar, who is a part of various environmental projects in Pilibhit, said that rise in tiger population, an almost negligible buffer zone and dependence of people in the villages on forest were the major reasons for the conflict.
According to PTR officials, the number of adult tigers living in the reserve increased from 44 in 2017 to an estimated 68 in 2020. “The rise in tiger population puts a stress on the ecology of the forest reserve forcing the big cats to move outside of the buffer zone into fields nearby,” Zargar said.
“The horse shoe shape of the reserve is also a disadvantage because two of its arms consist of narrow patch of forest which tigers easily cross over, unknowingly increasing possibility of conflict with humans,” he added.
Ram Chandra, a farmer of Amaria area of Pilibhit was mauled to death by a tiger when he went near the forest to collect firewood. The place where the incident took place is located at the tip of one of the narrow forest stretches of the reserve. “My father left home in the afternoon to collect firewood but didn’t return. When we went close to the forest we found his mauled body near the field on the edge of the forest,” said Shiv Pratap, Ram’s eldest son.
To mitigate the rising conflict, PTR officials applied a multi- pronged approach.
As an immediate solution, it was decided to build an electric fence around the reserve where man-animal encounter was rampant. By July 2020, electric fencing of over 40-kilometre boundary was completed. “The work on electric fencing will continue. We are planning to extend the fence to 13 more kilometres this year,” said Naveen Khandelwal, deputy director, PTR.
Besides fencing, the PTR and local district administration increased efforts to spread awareness about ways to avoid conflict with tigers in villages located near the reserve.
“We regularly organise awareness camps in villages. We also urge people to not enter the reserve and take measures to prevent any encounter with tigers,” said the officer.
“A major aspect of the drive is to encourage villagers to report tiger sighting near villages so that we can send experts to relocate the animal from there,” he added.
The efforts have increased awareness among the villagers but done very little to dilute the animosity towards tigers caused due to fear. This was reflected in an incident in February 2020 when a group of locals surrounded and attacked a tiger who ventured out of the reserve. The tiger succumbed to the injuries. Over 50 people were booked in an FIR lodged about the incident. “Bagh ke saath to marne-maarne ka hi kanoon chalta hai. Agar hum bagh ko nahi marenge to vo hame mar dega, hamare bachcho ko, pashuon ko mar dega ( The law of killing or getting killed works with tigers. If we do not kill the tiger, it will kill us or our children or cattle) said Subhash Pal, relative of one of the accused in the tiger killing incident.
Considering the threat to tigers from locals, the team in PTR focuses on safely relocating the tigers found living close to villages.
The team has relocated four tigers living outside the reserve since 2018. These tigers were reported by villagers and were found to be living near villages. Forest officials first tried to move them back to the forest. After failing to do so, they decided to tranquilise and capture them. While none of the tigers were declared man-eater, at least two of them were known to have attacked humans. The tigers were moved to different zoos in UP.
The local officials keep reviewing measures regularly to prevent conflict. This includes banning Katharua, a kind of mushroom which is found inside PTR and is considered a delicacy. When officials came to know that some locals entered the PTR illegally to harvest Katharua, they announced a ban on use and sale of the mushroom in the entire district in 2017. The ban exists till date. The last man -animal conflict that resulted in death of a woman took place in June 2020.