Highlighting once again the plight of tigers outside protected areas, a tiger skin and tiger skeleton was found in an area adjoining the Corbett Tiger Reserve and two people were arrested in a joint operation by the Haldwani Police, the Uttarakhand Forest Department and the Wildlife Protection Society of India. The duo said that the tiger was from Ramnagar Division, next to the reserve.

“The tiger was a three to four year old female. A steel trap was used to snare the tigress and after that, she was beaten to death by the poachers, with blows being directed at the head,” says Tito Joseph from the Wildlife Protection Society of India. “There is an urgent need to step up protection in these adjoining forests, which are geographically part of Corbett's landscape. Tigers have been poisoned after they strayed into villages around Corbett. The tigers in the adjoining areas usually originate from Corbett,” he adds.

With Corbett having the highest concentration of tigers in India — 20 tigers every 100 sq km — the rate of big cats straying out of Corbett, and subsequently getting killed, is high. Though there is a proposal from the National Tiger Conservation Authority to increase the buffer area of Corbett to include tiger-rich forest areas of Ramnagar, Lansdowne and Haldwani, no decision has been taken by Uttarakhand on the matter yet. “We have not yet reached a decision to increase Corbett’s buffer zone. Currently, forests adjoining Corbett fall under the jurisdiction of Divisional Forest Officers,” says Vinod Singhal, director, Corbett Tiger Reserve.

... contd.