Since June 2011, when the then Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had written to the then Chief Minister of Goa, Digambar Kamat, seeking a proposal be made to declare the sanctuary as a tiger reserve, there was hope that the government would at some point of time act on this letter. It didn’t for over a decade, despite the fact that in February 2016, the State Wildlife Board had approved the proposal to declare all the protected areas as tiger reserves and to grant support to human settlements in the areas. The minister’s statement effectively ends the possibility of a tiger reserve in the State.
The government, however, cannot deny that there are tigers in the State. The tiger census and the camera trap method of identifying tigers have documented the presence of the animal in the State forests. The excuse now being made to avoid the declaration of a tiger reserves is that they are not resident to Goa, but stray into the forests. This just obfuscates the issue as the forest areas of Goa are contiguous to the tiger reserve of Anshi Dandeli and the Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary. So, does claiming that the tigers spotted in Goa are in transit, justify not declaring the forest as a tiger reserve? Environmentalist do not agree and allege that the setting aside of the possibility of declaring a tiger reserve is to welcome mega projects in the protected areas. In January this year, Herald had reported on the clearing of trees at the Vagheri Hills in Sattari.
There are lots of reports of tigers being spotted in the State. In July last year, the then State’s Environment Secretary had tweeted a picture of a male tiger spotted on camera in Surla village which comes within the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary with the comment that lockdown rules don’t apply to all. Locals had claimed that the tiger was a ‘resident’ of the forest area, one of three that have made Surla, Chorla in Goa and Hulund in Karnataka their home. The tiger, spotted at Surla was earlier reported to have been seen in Golali village, where four tigers were found killed in January 2020. For the tiger, there are no boundaries, and hence the contiguous forest has to be part of the protected area so that the tigers get some protection. The purpose of the tiger reserve is to protect them, it is the least that the State can do for the wild cat.
Whether the animals are in transit or they are straying across the border into Goa, the fact is that the tiger has been spotted in Goa, it has also been killed. The killing of four tigers in January 2020 is an instance of how there is no protection of the tiger in the State. Were these tigers too just tourists in the area? And even if they are, don’t they deserve protection? The State has to take a considered decision on the matter and not merely dismiss the possibility of a tiger reserve being declared. The least the government can do is wait until the tiger census that is currently underway is completed before taking any decision. The census will confirm the presence of tigers and also whether these tigers are merely straying into the area or are resident here. There was no reason to make such an assertion while the count was on.
