Jharkhand’s lone tiger den turning into a ‘cow shed’

RANCHI: Jharkhand’s lone tiger reserve in Palamau is turning into a den for cowherds grazing cattle inside the protected area, potentially posing a threat of infectious diseases to the remaining wildlife in the game reserve, officials have said.

A monitoring drive by the forest department at the Palamau Tiger Reserve found that vast areas of the protected zone have been encroached upon by cowherds from neighbouring Bihar, Chhattisgarh and other regions who have set up temporary cattle sheds or ‘kathals’ as they are locally called.

Only three tigers remain in the 1,129.93 sqkm-large reserve with most of the 50 big cats as per the census in 1974 falling prey to poachers over the years. The number of other wild animals is also dwindling.

The cowherds have now entered the core areas of the reserve like Baresanrh, Garu, Mundu and Betla, PTR steering committee member D S Srivastava said.

Forest officials said the kathals could become breeding ground of cattle-borne diseases which could severely affect wildlife.

Recently, a three-year-old baby elephant in Baresanrh range, considered to be the prime elephant habitat in PTR, died of suspected anthrax. Experts said the disease was transmitted to the pachyderm due to the presence of buffaloes.

Water bodies used or “polluted” by the buffaloes are a major cause for this transmission, feels Srivastava.

“Wild animals stop drinking water from such water bodies. During summer, most of the waterholes go dry. The few waterholes that carry water are encroached by buffaloes,” he said, adding, the buffaloes are also consuming food meant for the wild animals.

The sanctuary houses 39 species of mammals, including tigers, and 174 species of birds. However, the reserve has only seven forest guards against a sanctioned number of 175.

PTR officials say they have started talks with villagers to remove their cattle.

“We initiate action on regular basis to remove the cattle from reserve area but they return again. So, we have started a dialogue process with local villagers,” said PTR divisional forest officer (buffer area), Mahaling, who goes by one name.

He said they are also convincing local villagers to adopt stall feeding system. Sources in the state forest department said that the department was planning to dedicate a demarcated area outside the reserve for grazing of their cattle.