Maharashtra sees rise in tiger attacks during lockdown

There has been a surge in the number of tiger attacks in Maharashtra during the lockdown, said the chief wildlife warden of the state forest department. Following

There has been a surge in the number of tiger attacks in Maharashtra during the lockdown, said the chief wildlife warden of the state forest department. Following representations from local villagers, one tigress, suspected of killing at least two people, has been tranquilised and sent to Gorewada Zoo in Nagpur. Twelve people have died due to tiger attacks during the lockdown in Maharashtra.

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Between March 23 and May 2, 11 deaths were recorded in five districts – two in Gadchiroli; two in Gondia; two in Bhandara; one in Pench Tiger Reserve (Maharashtra); and four in Chandrapur district (including two deaths in the buffer zone of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve). All the deaths were of people who had entered protected areas to collect Mahua flowers or tendu leaves, the forest department said. On Saturday afternoon, 50-year-old Abhiman Narayan was mauled to death by a tiger near Kondhala village, in Gadchiroli district, after he had entered a forested zone to pick tendu leaves, said forest officials.

“While isolated cases of conflict are witnessed annually, there is a spike this year, especially during lockdown,” said Nitin Kakodkar, principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife), Maharashtra. Overall, there have been 18 deaths recorded this year between January and April as compared to 23 throughout the year in 2019 and 25 in 2018. Tigers are moving freely outside core zones and in some cases, they’ve come closer to human-dominated areas during lockdown, leading to conflict. “Cases were restricted to the Chandrapur district in previous years, but a surge has been witnessed this year from other districts as well,” said Kakodkar.

On April 23, the forest department issued a set of guidelines to all districts witnessing conflict, stressing that villagers should avoid going deep into the forest, especially the core area. “Deaths during forest produce collection have been happening annually but there is definitely a rise being witnessed this year not just in Maharashtra but other states as in central India as well. But villagers need to be more careful as they are aware of the dangers,” said Kishore Rithe, state wildlife board member.

Villagers go into the forest to collect Mahua flowers —dried Mahua flowers are fermented to produce an alcoholic drink and the flowers have other uses too — and tendu leaves (Diospyros melonoxylon), which are mostly used to make bidis. This year, the Mahua, which usually blooms in early March, has bloomed in April. Nitin Desai, director (central India), Wildlife Protection Society of India, said dried Mahua flowers are selling for Rs 150 per kilogram and fresh flowers are selling for Rs 100 per kg in Maharashtra, compared to Rs 30-35 per kg in central India.

One of the reasons for increased demand is the production of alcohol-based sanitiser. Wildlife activist Umeshsingh Zire said, “During the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, alcohol-based sanitiser industries, especially across Gadchiroli and Gondia, are following production methods being implemented by Madhya Pradesh, and paying villagers more for large quantities of dried Mahua flowers.”

50 TIGERS TO BE TRANSLOCATED FROM CHANDRAPUR

Over the next three years, the forest department plans to translocate 50 of the 160 tigers from Chandrapur landscape, including tiger reserves, to address future conflict issues. “A proposal has been sent to the Maharashtra government to tranquilise and translocate 50 tigers to areas with fewer numbers, zoological parks or even other states with low tiger numbers,” said Kakodkar. The proposal is awaiting clearance from the state wildlife board, Maharashtra government and National Tiger Conservation Authority.

State wildlife board member Kishore Rithe said translocating tigers would be a stop-gap measure since tigers were likely to breed again and increase their numbers in the area. “Rather than moving animals out of this zone, district planners need to identify villages falling in fragmented corridors and plan their translocation, which will be less tedious,” said Rithe.

GONDIA FOREST DEPARTMENT TRANQUILISES TIGRESS

On Thursday, a two-year-old, sub-adult tigress (N1) — allegedly responsible for the death of two persons (during forest produce collection) in Gondia — was tranquilised and captured by the forest department. She was sent to Gorewada Zoo in Nagpur on Friday. Forest officers developed a contraption involving a cage set atop a tractor to tranquilise the animal. “After a few kills were reported from the Brahmapuri division in November and December last year, we had issued orders to capture the tigress but the animal could not be located. Earlier this year, we learnt the tiger had travelled from Chandrapur to Gondia where it made a few kills, including villagers collecting forest produce. Based on the deaths reported in the last week of April and another on May 2, capturing efforts were escalated. The operation was successful and the animal is healthy,” said Kakodkar.