Man vs. animal

Demographic trends and habitat degradation root of the problem

The age-old conflict between humans and wild animals seems to have intensified of late in India. As the human habitat crawls closer to the edge of what has been for long the habitat of all manner of other beings, the two species have begun to attack each other. In areas around the Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve alone, over 25 villagers are said to have been mauled to death by tigers and nine big cats killed by people in the past 13 months. Around the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, too, three persons have died due to attacks by tigers in recent months. Similar gory incidents have been reported from different parts of the country, involving tigers, leopards, lions and other wild beasts. The famous Gir National Park and Sanctuary in Gujarat, which was until recently hailed as the planet’s best managed and only safe abode of the Asiatic lion, has also been witness to outmigration of animals, also a reason for the clash with humans. A large number of wild elephants have got killed in southern states, notably Karnataka, either by trains running through forest areas or by coming in contact with electrified fences put up by farmers to save their crops.

All this is a result of both an increase in animal and human populations and a decrease in forest cover and animal habitat. The natural balance between the population of carnivores and herbivores on the one hand, and herbivores and vegetative cover on the other, has been disturbed. The contraction and degradation of habitats is forcing animals — carnivores and herbivores alike — to venture out of protected forests and the peripheral buffer belts in search of feed, prey and fresh territories.

In the case of tigers, in particular, better surveillance in sanctuaries in the past few years, especially after the disappearance of tigers in the Sariska Tiger Reserve and some other tiger reserves, is believed to have led to an increase in their population. Though the precise tiger count will be known only after the on-going animal census is over, the general belief is that their number might have swelled by about 100, from 1,411 estimated in the previous census in 2006. This, in itself, should not have forced the migration of animals from their habitats had the core forest areas not been simultaneously degraded and diminished in size, losing the ability to support a higher population. The core tiger area in the country’s 37 tiger reserves put together is today reckoned at around 31,210 sq km, against over one lakh sq km in the 1970s. A big cat ideally needs at least 10 sq km of densely forested territory at its command. Otherwise, animal-to-animal clashes ensue, forcing weaker cats to vacate the terrain and look for new territories, posing a danger to humans and cats alike.

This apart, the increasing infiltration of human beings into animal reserves and buffer zones is exacerbating the problem of habitat loss. At least 10 more resorts and hotels are said to have sprung up in the buffer zones of the Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve. Incidence of cattle grazing is also on the rise in and around most animal sanctuaries. In their enthusiasm to protect animals, forest guards usually tend to neglect the equally important task of preserving habitat and conserving green cover. This is necessary, if both humans and animals have to live in peace and with each other.