Maneaters at Corbett

On my recent birding tours I was saddened to find out that a women had been killed by a tiger or tigress. This happened on the way to Dhikala gate near a village. Though the animal could not be located another killing took place some distance away. One of the incident took place in broad daylight as I heard.

Every year one or two man eating incidence takes place. While most of the cases may be accidental, one or two are premeditated attacks. This does not augur good for the animal. But in most of the tiger reserves in the country the number of people in the buffer zone is very high. The intrusion is on daily basis in the buffer that was supposed to distance human settlements from prime areas. But in recent times there is a murky line that separates the human settlements with habitat.

With conservation efforts the wildlife has saturated buffer zones. Especially in parks like Corbett in Uttaranchal, Kanha, Pench and Bandhavgarh. The status of buffer zones are practically as same as the core. New guidelines are called for for mapping our valuable assets. While people have a large land mass to settle, wildlife is surviving in a limited area that too with regular human intrusions. 

Corbett is an exciting birding destination and supports lots of wildlife wild elephants and tigers. More than hundred tigers find home in the preserve. Efficient management is key to conservation success. It is a well managed park as rising population of tigers indicate. But tourism should be managed the way it is being done at Central Indian Tiger Reserves.