Phantom sightings keep the roars in Buxa alive

Written By Unknown on Senin, 08 Oktober 2012 | 22.33

JALPAIGURI: While foresters in North Bengal claim there are frequent tiger sightings in Jaldapra Wildlife Sanctuary and Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) nowadays, the villagers think otherwise.

According to recent findings, Buxa and Jaldapara, both, have recorded rise in the number of tigers, but over 9000 villagers living in and around Buxa and Jaldapara claim that the tigers in North Bengal remain only on the papers.

A recent scat analysis findings showed the presence of about 20 Bengal tigers in Buxa. "Even last week, our workers have sighted a tiger in the forest. We keep the record and send it to the authorities concerned regularly," said R P Saini, field director of BTR.

In Buxa, pug marks and scat analysis indicated that there has been an increase in their number in the past few years. Once almost disappeared, the striped pride seems to have made a royal comeback, with regular sightings being reported from Jayanti, Rajabhatkhawa, Nimti, Sankosh and Kumargram areas of the forest.

"Our workers report sightings twice or thrice a week. Mostly they can be seen in the core areas like Jayanti, Rajabhatkhawa. But recently, sightings were also reported from areas like Sankosh and Kumargram," said a senior forest official of BTR.

But surprisingly enough, villagers in BTR do not believe this. "I did not even hear the roar of a tiger, though I have grown up here," said a resident of Jayanti. Tamal Goswami, a nature lover and a tour operator, who often visits Buxa, said: "The last time I saw a tiger was in the year 2003 at the 27 Mile, on the banks of Bala river. I have been to the forest several times after that and have visited the core areas, but did not see any tiger."

According to the census conducted in 2002, presence of six Bengal Tigers were confirmed in the Jaldapara sanctuary. But a recent monitoring showed that tiger count has increased to around 10 in the North Bengal forest. Foresters also found evidences which showed that there are cubs, too, inside the forest.

In the last one year, frequent tiger sightings have been reported from the sanctuary, particularly in the east and north range. Malangi, Headquarter and Siltorsha are some of the forest beats where even tourists have sighted Bengal tigers along with their cubs, claimed a forester. According to him, abundance of prey species is helping the big cats' number to rise.

Conservationists, however, believe that tiger sighting in North Bengal is low because of three reasons. Firstly, tiger is a nocturnal animal with a very shy character. Secondly, since BTR has an area of over 750 square kilometers, it is difficult to spot a tiger. And thirdly, the high density of the forestland also works as a hindrance against sightings.

"Kaziranga has the highest density of tiger in the country. Yet sighting is
very low. This is because of the very dense forest and the shy character of the animal. In other forests like Ranthambore, the forest is less dense and hence the visibility is better," said Animesh Bose of Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation.

The last tiger to be spotted in a North Bengal forest, other than the BTR, was in April 2009 in the Ramsai beat of Gorumara National Park near Maynaguri, some 20km from Jalpaiguri town. Another tiger was seen by the then conservator of forests, territorial, Manindra Biswas in the Gourikon area of Apalchand forest near Belakoba, around 25km from Jalpaiguri.


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