Two more Tadoba tigers reach Umred-Karhandla; renewed demand for tiger reserve

Nagpur: The dispersal of two tigers from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Chandrapur to Umred-Karhandla-Paoni Wildlife Sanctuary in Nagpur district has once again raised the demand to declare Umred-Karhandla (189sqkm) as a tiger reserve.

Both the tigers are not radio-collared and might have moved 100-125km in search of mates and territory.

Last week, a male tiger was sighted in park’s Gothangaon tourism zone by tourist Amrut Naik. The 2.5-year-old male has been identified by Wildlife Institute of India (WII) as a cub of tigress T-13, a resident of Navegaon (Ramdegi) in Tadoba’s buffer.

“Naik said the cub is from the third litter of T-13 and was sighted with its female sibling and mother last year by tourists in Navegaon buffer zone. T13 is Pandharpaoni’s Maya’s sister,” said Naik.

Six months back, in May, a tigress from Devdoh in Tadoba had dispersed to Paoni range of Umred-Karhandla. Chief conservator of forests (CCF) and Pench field director Ravikiran Govekar confirmed both the tigers have entered the sanctuary.

“The Paoni tigress from Tadoba has mostly stabilized and is recorded in-between. It will be chronicled during Phase IV exercise to estimate tigers. We will have to wait and watch for the new entrant from Navegaon, whether it stabilizes or leaves the area,” Govekar said.

This is the third dispersal of tigers from Tadoba to Umred-Karhandla in the last two years. Earlier, in December 2017, a young radio-collared female had reached Paoni range of Umred-Karhandla from Kolsa range of TATR, travelling 120-130km.

With the two recent dispersals, wildlife lovers and conservationists have reiterated the long-pending demand to declare Umred-Karhandla as a tiger reserve. In 2015, an appraisal committee of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had recommended to notify Umred-Karhandla as a tiger reserve but the proposal has not moved further.

PCCF (wildlife) Nitin H Kakodkar said, “No doubt, Umred-Karhandla is a stepping stone for tigers but it is too small to become a tiger reserve, and hence the proposal has been put on hold. We plan to expand the sanctuary by 638 hectares by rehabilitating 8 villages.”

“No doubt, Umred-Karhandla is doing good and relocation of Ranbodi village has helped increase prey base. We will enhance protection to the sanctuary and its corridors. I’m not certain but we will consider the tiger reserve proposal,” Kakodkar added.

“Umred-Karhandla is strategically located between three tiger reserves — Bor, Navegaon-Nagzira and Tadoba. The sanctuary’s adjoining forest areas of Brahmapuri and Central Chanda forest division form a connecting link between these tiger reserves and Umred-Karhandla acts as umbilical cord for this link,” said conservationist Prafulla Bhamburkar.

“Regular dispersal of tigers to Karhandla shows critical corridors are active with Umred as a connecting link. The results clearly show that presence of Umred in the centre with higher protection status will ensure long-term survival of these tiger populations. If 138sqkm Bor can become a tiger reserve why not Umred-Karhandla,” said Sarosh Lodhi of Conservation Lenses & Wildlife (CLaW).

As per NTCA amended guidelines, with an aim of maintaining viable populations of tigers and life support ecological systems in natural wilderness areas, a minimum inviolate space of 800-1,000 sqkm should be maintained to support a viable population of tiger in tiger landscapes, based on tiger life history parameters, territory sizes and population viability analysis.

“Considering this aspect, the long-term survival of Bor and Navegaon-Nagzira tiger reserves is only possible if they are connected with Umred-Karhandla sanctuary, which is the only connecting link,” feels WII tiger scientist Bilal Habib.