Bhopal: Tigers Aplenty At Bandhavgarh Reserve

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve has highest numbers of tigers in the state, a good news that has posed challenge for officials. The area needed for over 150 tigers present in the reserve to make their territory has lessened. In search of easy prey, some tigers roam around villages situated near reserve and kill cattle.

This has raised another problem. When tiger kills cattle and attacks the grazers who try to save their cattle, the villagers living around the reserve area get aggressive, which makes it difficult for officials to calm them down. A recent problem is a tigress, which is raising cubs near a village area and villagers are demanding that it should be shifted to other place. A retired wildlife warden told Free Press that tigers should be shifted to other places in state.

There are many places where prey base is good but there is no tiger, he said. Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve field director Prakash Kumar Verma said reserve administration was spreading awareness among villagers so that situations could be handled better. Wildlife activist Ajay Dubey has expressed the need for conflict management.