MOVING ahead with one of the four main strategies planned to contain human-wildlife conflict in Chandrapur district, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has directed officials to try and rehabilitate some of the villages on the periphery of the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in order to increase the reserve's area to accommodate more tigers. The CM's directive came in a review meeting of the Forest department on Monday. Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) Nitin Kakodkar said, "The strategy is to accommodate more tigers in the protected area of TATR. Some villages in the buffer area on TATR periphery like Karva, Piparheti, Padharwani, Pangdi, Doni, Pahami and Pimparda will have to rehabilitated. This will make about 40-50 sq km area inviolate and help accommodate more tigers in TATR." Currently, TATR spans across 625 sq km and accommodates about 50 tigers. The buffer area around it is 1,127 sq km and has more than 50 tigers. Apart from these, Chandrapur district has at least 100 more tigers, making it one of the top tiger-populated districts in the country. The district has been witnessing intense human-wildlife conflict, mainly involving tigers, over the past several years. Last year, over 35 people were killed by tigers in the district and this year the number has already crossed 15.
