BHOPAL: The relocation of Barasingha to Kanha Tiger Reserve is acknowledged as one of the remarkable achievements of wildlife conservation in the world. The number of hard ground Barasingha had come down to just 66 in Kanha.
Now the number has grown to around 800 due to the vigorous efforts of the management. This species is included in some of the world's most endangered wildlife species, owing to the poaching and destruction of habitats.
This state animal of Madhya Pradesh is now somewhat safe, but Kanha management, considering it not enough, is constantly moving ahead to achieve the management objectives of Barasingha conservation.
With an aim of increasing hard ground Barasingha population, left only in the world in Kanha Tiger Reserve, 7 Barsinghas to Van Vihar National Park, Bhopal and 46 to Satpura Tiger Reserve have been relocated in the recent years and increase in their population has been recorded at these places.
A total of three sub-species of Barasingha are found in India and Nepal in the whole world. In India, the three subspecies Rucervus Duvaucelii, Rucervus Duvaucelii Ranjitasinhi and Rucervus Duvaucelli Brendari are found in Dudhwa and Kaziranga National Parks, Manaas National Park and Kanha National Park respectively.
Numbers: Over 3,000 Barasinghas in 1938 to just 66 in 1970
India had witnessed a very alarming change in the population of Barasingha in the twentieth century. During this time farming was being done in the valleys of Narmada, Mahanadi, Godavari and tributary rivers. The groups of Barasinghas were disintegrated due to biological pressure and they became quite isolated due to fear of commercial and traditional poachers. Due to this, their number kept decreasing rapidly. In the survey conducted by the Forest Department in the year 1938, there were about 3 thousand Barasinghas in and around Kanha National Park area. After this, the number of Barasinghas continued to decline and in the assessment made in the year 1953 this number gone down to 551 and in the year 1970 to just 66, informed Field Director, Kanha Tiger Reserve L. Krishnamurti.
