Declare Goa's Cotigao sanctuary as tiger reserve: Activist

An activist has demanded that Goa's Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary be declared as a tiger reserve, after some locals claimed to have spotted the striped cat in the area.

When contacted, sources close to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday said he would be seeking a detailed report from the forest department on the claims made by locals.

"I would review the situation," Sawant, who also holds charge of the forest department, told PTI.

Some residents of a village near the sanctuary, located in South Goa district, said they recently spotted a tiger and its pug marks in the forest area.

Goa-based environmentalist Rajendra Kerkar said the pug mark sightings in the absence of camera traps could be a conclusive evidence to prove the presence of tigers in the Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary.

"This area should be declared as a tiger reserve and locals should be trained to preserve the wildlife," he said.

Kerkar said the forest department could lay camera traps in November-December (after the monsoon season ends) to establish the presence of tigers in the region.

"It is a known fact that the Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary is a rich natural habitat having forest connecting the Anshi-Dandeli tiger reserve (in Karnataka)," he said.

"Time has come to preserve tigers who are at the top of our food chain. If we don't preserve tigers, we won't be able to save our forests and eventually, it will lead to water scarcity," the activist said.

Malo Bavadan, a resident of Cotigao village, claimed he several times saw a tiger and its pug marks in the sanctuary in the recent past.

"The latest sighting was some 15 days back," he said.

Another local youth Yogesh Desai also claimed that he was stunned to see the big cat when he went to the forest area earlier this month.