V Clement Ben, chief conservator of forests and field director of the Sahyadri tiger project, told dna that in January, a beat guard saw a tiger at Radhanagari. Secondary evidence, such as tiger scats, were also found.
To develop a fresh habitat for tigers in Maharashtra, the state government has proposed that the Radhanagari wildlife sanctuary be linked to the Sahyadri tiger reserve.
While enhancing the protection status of the area located in the Kolhapur district, this will also develop the habitat for tigers and help repopulate the Sahyadri tiger reserve by linking it with the source population in southern states such as Karnataka and Goa.
V Clement Ben, chief conservator of forests and field director of the Sahyadri tiger project, told dna that in January, a beat guard saw a tiger at Radhanagari. Secondary evidence, such as tiger scats, were also found.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) officials had visited the area, studied the corridor and the landscape, and opined that the sanctuary should be declared a satellite core. "Accordingly, we are in the process of making a proposal," said Ben, adding, "If everything goes fine, the Radhanagari wildlife sanctuary will be declared as the satellite core of the Sahyadri tiger reserve."
The tiger population in the Sahyadri reserve is connected with the source population through the Radhanagari sanctuary and Western Ghat ridges. Development of Radhanagari as a tiger habitat will "protect the corridor and the movement pattern of tigers will be smooth," noted Ben.
The Radhanagari sanctuary is spread over a 380 sqkm notified area and includes a 282 sqkm reserved forest. The Sahyadri tiger project covers the Koyna wildlife sanctuary and Chandoli national park and spans Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur and parts of Ratnagiri. It has a 1,165.56 sqkm area, including a 600.12 sqkm core and 565.45 sqkm buffer. The reserve's core areas in Chandoli and Koyna are connected by a strip of land, which has been declared a buffer.
The state is also working on declaring a patch of evergreen forests at Tillari in the Konkan – on the cusp of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka – as a wildlife sanctuary to develop it as a tiger habitat and tiger population source for the Sahyadri project. Development of Radhanagari and Tillari will help the larger programme to repopulate the reserve, which has just around seven tigers.
"Radhanagari is connected to Chandoli but the tiger corridor is broken in parts of Shahuwadi taluka, where we have pockets where bauxite mining takes place," noted a forest department official. He added that this was one of the reasons for the reserve not having a resident, breeding tiger population despite having a good habitat to support them.
"If Radhanagari is declared a satellite core, it will get more Central funding. Basic infrastructure and amenities, such as protection huts, will be made available and the protection status of the area will be enhanced. Habitat development activities, such as soil and water conservation, can be undertaken along with the implementation of schemes to enhance the economic status of villagers living in the buffer zone," the official noted.
The special tiger protection force (STPF) could be deployed in future to prevent poaching.
Ben said they planned to hold a corridor management meeting soon and also ban tree felling in the corridor. The NTCA had been asked for a report on private mines in the area, which would be sent to the state government.
The Radhanagari sanctuary is also known as the habitat of the Indian bison.
The number of tigers in the Sahyadri tiger reserve is less as the big cats do not breed there due to problems such as poor prey base in the Koyna sanctuary and weak links in the corridor. The authorities are planning to tentatively translocate six animals to the reserve, including four females and two males, from Chandrapur in Vidarbha.
Maharashtra has six tiger reserves. The tiger census, results for which were released in 2014, have said India has 2,226 tigers, up from 1,706 in 2010. Maharashtra has around 190 such big cats, more than the figure of 169 in 2010.
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