A lost emperor's cry for sovereignty.

25 January 2013 -

The Royal Bengal Tiger, the king of the jungle, is a lost emperor. Anthropogenic conflict continues to take its toll on tiger terrain smashing all remote chances of resuscitation of the tiger in its largest range state: India. Highways, tribal settlements, schools for forest dwelling villagers and tribes, hospitals, veterinary clinics, reservoirs, dams, mines, plantations, polluted rivers, all find real estate for development only in the forests. Where does wildlife go?

Tiger caught in coffee estate fence on the fringe of the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve in December 2012. Pic: Karnataka Forest Department.

There is a historical pattern of anthropogenic conflict taking a toll on tiger terrain. In December 2012 a 13-year-old frail and emaciated tigress was killed by forest officials during mob frenzy in the Wynad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) in Kerala. Increase in tiger numbers without an increase in tiger terrain led to cattle lifting, antagonising the locals. The increase in tiger numbers in WWS was directly a result of habitat contiguity in the Nagarhole, Bandipur, Mudumulai, BRT Tiger Reserves and WWS, one of the four tiger landscapes in India - according to the Wildlife Institute of India's 'scientific tiger census' - that has the potential for long term sustainable tiger conservation. The sight of the carnivore near human habitation triggered panic and the forest officials' ham handed attempts at tranquilising the tiger killed it. The need for inviolate spaces for tigers thus cannot be over emphasised.

Tribals sit idly over burnt deciduous forests. In 2012 the villagers of Gonigadde in Nagarhole Tiger Reserve in Karnataka were accused of setting 509 hectares of forests along with their faunal wealth on fire. Pic: Malini Shankar.

            In February 2012, disgruntled forest dwelling tribals set fire to 509 hectares of the Nagarhole forests. A leopard died of asphyxiation in adjacent Bandipur Tiger Reserve in March 2012. In his official investigation report submitted to the Government of Karnataka, the former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Wildlife B K Singh recorded that "tribals of Gonigadde Haadi in the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve were instigated by NGOs and anthropologists. Forest watchers, volunteers, daily wage earners combined their efforts to battle the forest fire for 24 hours, non-stop." No amount of anthropological defence can justify vengeful spread of forest fires.