Naxalite shadow over Palamau tigers

The Director of Palamau Tiger Reserve, A.N. Prasad, admits the decline in tiger population with the corresponding dip in the number of its prey — the number of spotted deer has come down from 14,375 in 2002 to 12,586 in 2003 and Neelgai from 12 in 2002 to 1 in 2003.

But when asked why tigers are hardly spotted these days, Prasad is quick to add: ‘‘It (the reserve) is not a zoo where tigers are kept in enclosures.’’ Both Prasad, who assumed office as the director of the reserve on October 9, and DFO, Daltonganj (South), P.K. Gupta — under whose jurisdiction the reserve lies — are yet to spot a tiger in Palamau.

‘‘Extremists, road robbers, timber mafia and poachers have made the habitat of endangered animals very unsafe,’’ says Gupta.

Asked about the threat to tigers in the reserve, state Forest Minister Yamuna Singh says: ‘‘A friend of mine had seen a big tiger some time ago.’’ He could not specify the date.

Sources point to a thriving trade in body parts of deer, antelopes and tigers but Prasad claims ‘‘evidences of poaching of tiger were few in this reserve’’. But the forest staff admit it is becoming increasingly difficult to protect the reserve which spreads over 1,026 sq km. ‘‘It’s sheer Naxalite terror. Nobody dares to enter the forest even during the day,’’ says a staffer.

Forest officials say the tiger census is broadly based on two sources — daily reports prepared by trackers and pug marks collected every year. But now with the staff reluctant to enter the forest due to Naxalite terror, daily figures are hardly maintained. The result: The recent survey was based on pug-mark reports. ‘‘This is why it is difficult to rely on the data,’’ says former director of Project Tiger P.K. Sen.