In model reserve, retching tiger worries keepers

Forest officials refuse to classify this as a case of human poisoning until there is more concrete evidence. The animal was promptly darted with antidote by a forest vet and it survived.

But while officials await ‘‘results of laboratory tests’’, they cannot discount the fact that even Kanha can be vulnerable to poachers or to villagers bent on revenge.

‘‘It was a peripheral tiger and probably strayed out of the Park when it was poisoned,’’ said Field Director K Nayak. ‘‘But I am not sure—traces (of poison) were found only on its tongue and not in the stomach.’’ He won’t even reveal the exact date of the incident.

DFO H S Negi also tries to downplay the issue: ‘‘It could have been a porcupine quill or something. I don’t think it was poison. Poachers are smart people and won’t do such a shoddy job.’’

B R Nagpura, range officer, Kisli, looks hurt: ‘‘It is not for us to say that there is no poaching here. But show me one person who can claim he has poached in Kanha. Who knows if that tiger swallowed some poisonous plant… If it was chemical poison, do you think we could have saved it?’’

But given Kanha’s pristine reputation, even the off-chance that poachers may be making their way here needs to be eliminated. It is, as wildlife experts across the country point out, a role model for other reserves.

Its officials have a hard job. Kanha needs to negotiate 18 core and 150 buffer villages. Some pockets have grazing problems. ‘‘Our schemes offer help to 130 out of 150 villages in the buffer zone. But it’s not easy to please all. We take all precautions against mischievous villagers to protect the forest against fire,’’ says Nagpura who has spent three decades in Kanha.

The presence of Baiga tribals—who are still largely dependent on the jungle for survival—adds to the problem. ‘‘We can’t rule out occasional hunting for bush protein in the periphery,’’ admits Nagpura.

Guards constantly man all 118 chowkis inside the Park. ‘‘Nothing goes unreported here,’’ says Nayak. One reason why even the Naxals, particularly active in the region adjoining the Mukhi range, are yet to venture inside the 940 sq km of core territory.

It’s easy to see how Kanha made its reputation. Field Directors and DFOs get unusually long terms here and often old officers are brought back. Field Director Nayak had served here as DFO earlier. DFO Negi has been posted here for more than nine years now. ‘‘There is no dearth of funds, very few vacancies,’’ says Negi. ‘‘Swamp deer population is healthy and our latest census shows almost 100 tigers in the core area alone.’’

Project Tiger director Dr Rajesh Gopal flaunts Kanha as the project’s biggest success story.

The staff is motivated—and you can see why. On a rainy night in July 2003, beat guard Manua Prasad Kartikeya was mauled so badly by a sloth bear that his cerebrum was exposed. Braving monsoon conditions, officials rescued Kartikeya from the remote chowki and rushed him to Jabalpur. He was treated for weeks together and more than Rs 75,000 was spent from Vikas Nidhi funds. Today, Kartikeya will do anything for the Park.

The Kanha imprint is unmistakable even on Tourism management. Ranthambhore also gets comparable volume of tourists but if you have suffered the touts and the corrupt staff at the Park gate there, meet the professional staff at Kanha tourist vehicle permit office. They clear serpentine queues of vehicles in a matter of minutes.

Guards are posted at strategic points to check if vehicles overspeed or tourists break rules. Criss-crossing the core area, this correspondent could not spot a trace of plastic or other waste. Penalty is prompt and this is probably the only reserve where junior forest staff will tick off VIP visitors, confident that the management will stand by them. Says WWF-India Tiger programme chief and ex-director, Project Tiger, P K Sen: ‘‘Credit goes to the past and present Park managers, including Dr Gopal, for spending long hours in the field and building Kanha as a model. But if indeed there has been a case of tiger poisoning, it is shocking. We can’t take chances with Kanha.’’