Express News Service
DEHRADUN: An alert has been sounded in the Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) after its Special Observation Group (SOG) deployed in the Kalagarh area (close to the Uttar Pradesh border) informed authorities about active poachers in the area.
The officials of the reserve said that an alert has been sounded as there has been an increase in the movement of people in this area, presumably due to the reopening of the Nepal route.
“Southern boundary of Corbett is sensitive in terms of infiltration. The villages of the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh located at the border of CTR act as patches to infiltrate,” said a senior IFS officer on the condition of anonymity.
The recent nabbing of poachers from Lakhimpur Kheri and Pithoragarh is also alarming, added officials.
On March 3, five poachers were seized with 20 tiger bones in Lakhimpur Kheri.
On February 14th in Takiyapurva village near Dudhwa Tiger Reserve’s Bailrayan Forest Range, two persons were caught with the hide of an adult tiger, which officials said appeared to have been killed barely a few days ago.
At more than 240, CTR has the world’s largest Bengal tiger population.
In July 2020, a report titled ‘Status of Tigers Co-predators and Prey in India’, released by the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change on the eve of Global Tiger Day revealed that the CTR has 14 tigers per 100 square kilometres which is the highest in India amongst 50 tiger reserves in the country.
The 656-page report which was termed as the “world’s largest effort invested in any wildlife survey till date” mentioned that the CTR has the highest tiger numbers with 231 inside the reserve and 266 ‘utilizing’ the reserve.
‘Utilizing’ here means that the animal not necessarily shares habitat on a permanent basis but move from one area to another using corridor which connects the forests where the tiger resides.
Interestingly, the report underlining the concerns for the corridors warned that these (corridors) are further threatened by the proposed Kandi road that will connect Kotdwar to Ramnagar through parts of CTR.
