The state forest department will soon relocate tigers from Tadoba-Andari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Chandrapur district to restore tiger population in Sahyadri Tiger Reserve (STR), a separate tiger reserve in western Maharashtra.
However, experts suggest that the objectives of the project can be achieved only if the Sahyadri-Konkan Wildlife Corridor forests in STR, Goa and Karnataka function adequately and without human disturbance.
Here’s what wildlife corridors are and their role in tiger conservation.
Why is Maharashtra planning to relocate tigers to STR?
Located in the northern Western Ghats, the STR was established in January 2010 and traverses the districts of Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli and Ratnagiri in western Maharashtra. It includes Sandoli National Park and Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary.
Tiger numbers in the region have historically been low due to poaching, poor prey availability and changing habitats. Even after the announcement of STR, the number of tigers did not increase as breeding tigers did not settle in the reserve.
Photographic evidence of tigers within the STR range is limited and pockmark evidence shows the occasional presence of seven to eight tigers.
One way to increase the population is through the arrival of tigers from the forests located south of the STR in Goa and Karnataka.
Especially by strengthening wildlife corridors. However, it may take several years for tiger numbers to increase this year.
Consequently, the relocation of tigers has been chosen for its short-term effects.
Is translocation the best approach to tiger recovery?
Since 2008, tiger translocation projects have been underway in India. Sariska Tiger Reserve in 2008 and Panna Tiger Reserve in 2009 have seen successful tiger reintroduction and translocation projects.
Reintroduction programs have had their share of failures and shelved, like the country’s first inter-state translocation project, the Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Odisha.
Anup Naik, former member secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Commission and additional director general of Project Tiger, believes that relocation efforts have so far been a mixed bag and should be taken as a last resort.
Before opting for translocation, other available options such as habitat improvement, prey augmentation, strengthening of tiger corridors and awareness raising should be evaluated,” said Naik.
He also said that tiger corridors are crucial for the long-term and sustainable success of the translocation project, “even after translocations, we need to ensure that the corridors are strengthened and that they remain free of major disturbances.
This will ensure that the tigers can spread to other resource areas
In Sadkosia, Naik says poor management of social fears was a major reason for the failure of the relocation programme.
Before and after the reintroduction of a male and a female tiger from Kanha in 2018, local residents of the Sadkosia Tiger Reserve protested the project violently.
Soon after the migration, Sundari, a tigress, allegedly mauled and killed a local woman, and later, a male tiger fell victim to the attack.
This led to violence against the forest department. Later, a male tiger named Mahaveer died after getting caught in a trap.
“The whole situation was badly managed. The tigers are roaming in their new habitat and are expected to roam around naturally. Villagers need to be reassured before being reintroduced,” Naik added.
What role do wildlife corridors play in conservation?
Corridors are essentially habitats and pathways connecting wildlife populations that are fragmented by human settlements and infrastructure works.
They are important for the long-term survival of tigers as they help protect against localized extinctions and ensure the transfer of gene flow that helps population diversity.
Tigers have large home ranges and often travel long distances in search of mates and food.
In doing so, they use these wildlife corridors and cross many human-dominated landscapes.
The role of corridors in conservation is well established and has been incorporated into policy decisions.
Mitigation measures such as underpasses and wildlife crossings to protect tigers and other wildlife are now routinely mandated in linear infrastructure projects that fragment habitats.
Litigation, advocacy and policymaking have all contributed to this. An example of embedding mitigation measures to protect corridors is the construction of a flyover on National Highway-7 to protect the tiger migration corridor between Kanha and Bench Tiger Reserves.
Tigers regularly use the area under the elevated part of the highway to cross the forest.
In 2014-15, the National Tiger Conservation Authority of India and the Wildlife Institute (WII) mapped 32 major tiger corridors in the country across four vast tiger habitats: Siwalik Hills and Gangetic Plains, Central India and Eastern Ghats, Western Ghats and Northeast Hills. .
What is the significance of Sahyadri-Konkan route?
The Sahyadri-Konkan Corridor or the Sahyadri-Rathanagari-Goa-Karnataka Corridor is critical to the long-term survival of tigers in the Northern Western Ghats.
The corridor connects the source population area in the Kali Tiger Reserve in Karnataka with the interior forests of Goa, providing tiger connectivity to the Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary Conservation Reserves and STR in Sindhudurg district.
Human-dominated settlements and development activities fragment this corridor in many places, threatening tiger movement and raising the chances of human-animal conflicts.
As the authorities plan to relocate the tigers to Sayatri, strengthening this corridor is crucial. Without those efforts, even breeding tigers would face difficulties in moving to other forests.
Nirmal Kulkarni, director of the Mahadei Research Center in Chorla Ghats, Karnataka, said tigers from the Kali Tiger Reserve continue to spread towards Goa, where the prey base is relatively low.
There are now seven to eight tigers in Goa’s protected areas. However, the state forest department has opposed the demand to declare tigers as a reserve.
Regarding this, Kulkarni said, “I stress that these channels are not only important for wildlife but also for water security of the communities living around these forests in Goa and Karnataka.
It is an important catchment area. Tigers are also worshiped here. We need better coordination between Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka to manage this problem,” he said.
