Faizabad stray tiger forces Centre to conduct a study

The study will be conducted for over three years. It will examine factors like the changing pattern of crops,which leads to disturbance among tigers,leading to increasing man-animal conflict. It will also address the various problems of the landscape around the forest area,said Rajesh Gopal,member secretary of NTCA. The study will be done in accordance to the one conducted in the Tadoba Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra,where around 36 humans have been killed in the last few years,he said.

Apart from ascertaining the number of stray tigers,the study will also involve monitoring the movement of the big cats with the help of radio collars. It will be conducted in the Terai region,as the tiger population in the area is relatively high. “The changing crop pattern is one of the main reasons behind the increase in the tiger straying incidents and the study will help us in coming up with a solution,” said BK Patnaik,Chief Wildlife Warden.

The World Wide Fund for Nature India (WWF-I) is also conducting a similar study to assess the number of such tigers outside their habitat.

“The study will find out the number of tigers moving out of their habitat to temporary and permanent locations. Issues like its habitat and prey base will also be estimated,” said a senior WWFI official.

The study comes at a time when the Faizabad big cat had strayed out of Pilibhit jungles over a month ago. The tiger travelled more than 400 km to the outskirts of Lucknow and lodging itself in the Faizabad jungles,has already killed five people. According to Forest Department officials,this tiger moved out of the Pilibhit jungles in search of territory and then entered into the nearby sugarcane fields and then finally lost its sense of direction.

Tiger conservationist and member of the National Board for Wildlife,Belinda Wright,said preventive measures like encouraging strip farming should be taken by the government. This kind of farming meant breaking the continuity between the forest and agricultural land by leaving strips of it uncultivated.