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Foresters lacked intel to anticipate tiger deaths in MM Hills: Ex-Indian Forest Service officials
Bengaluru: The death of five tigers at Male Mahadeshwara (MM) Hills Wildlife Sanctuary in Chamarajanagar on Thursday — said to be the largest single-day tiger mortality in the state since the launch of Project Tiger in India — has raised several questions over the preparedness of the forest department in the management of the protected areas across Karnataka.
Amid the mounting criticism over the deaths, former Indian Forest Service (IFS) officials have pointed out the failure of the forest intelligence in anticipating the incident, especially in a sensitive area like MM Hills that borders the neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
Retired principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Braj Kishore Singh, who served in Kollegal division as DCF, attributed the deaths to a failure of intelligence.
"While elephant poaching or electrocution was known in that area, the killing of tigers is strange and shocking. The death of the tigress and her cubs indicates that forest officials were neither active nor present on the ground," Singh said.
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Lamenting that in any conflict, it is the tiger that pays the price, Singh said the presence of the tigress and her cubs was a testimony to good conservation, but the administration failed to safeguard it.
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"Meenyam and Hoogyam are remote areas and connected to Tamil Nadu via a walkable mud road. The beat forest guards should have noticed the kill by the tigress and accordingly sensitised the surrounding villagers. The camera traps in the region may have revealed the presence of the tigress with her cubs as the animal may have been moving in the area for 3 to 4 days.
But that was clearly missing at the ground level as a few miscreants resorted to killing tigers by feeding poison," Singh said.
Yet another former PCCF, BJ Hosmath, who previously served as project director and field director of Bandipur-Nagarhole tiger reserves, acknowledged that the administration of tiger reserves requires dynamic leadership. "The officer and his team could have anticipated this event by relying on the department's intelligence. Even if you suspect the incident as the handiwork of local villagers, the anger could have been simmering for months.
Why did the staff not notice it and report to the higher authorities for suitable action?"
A few other officials revealed that the tigress killed the cattle on Tuesday evening and may have been revisiting the carcass with her cubs a day after. "The cattle carcass was seen within a few yards of the main road, and it is strange that the ground staffers failed to notice it and alert the higher authorities of the department," another retired official from the state forest service said.
