PANJIM: The Goa government has ascertained presence of five tigers in the State’s Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and nearby areas while declining tiger safari rides in the protected area.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s written reply to an unstarred question, on Monday, states that All India Tiger Estimation, 2014 of National Tiger Conservation Authority has reported presence of 5 tigers in the State.
“Further, the recent camera traps survey has confirmed at least five tigers in Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and nearby areas. Continuous monitoring, patrolling, protection of herbivore habitats and their population to increase prey base inside forests and Protected Areas, use of modern techniques like smart phone based MsTRIPES Application have been used for protecting tigers,” reads CM’s reply to legislator Rajesh Patnekar’s unstarred question in the Goa Legislative Assembly.
Parrikar further revealed that data on tigers and other co-predators and prey has been collected recently during the 2018 All India Tiger Estimation, which is sent for analysis to the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.
He also denied tiger safaris in Mhadei sanctuary considering the forests of Goa are very dense with lower visibility and very hilly terrain.
