Union minister for environment and forests Prakash Javadekar said to help improve the survival rate of the national animal, crèches will be set up for parent-less tiger cubs. A plan is being worked out to set up these centres at more than one place in Kaziranga. There are over 100 tigers in the national park.
There are care centres for all injured or sick animals but none specifically for tigers, Kaziranga officials said. “Tigers need special care,” divisional forest officer S.K. Seal Sarma said over phone from Kaziranga.
Originally established as a reserve forest in 1908, Kaziranga was declared a sanctuary in 1916 to counter extensive poaching of rhinos. In 1974, the Centre demarcated the area as a national park. In 2007, it was declared a tiger reserve under the Centre’s Project Tiger scheme. Manas National Park in Assam also has a rich population of tigers, elephants and rhinos.
In a firm message to poachers and smugglers of animal parts, Javadekar said on a specified day, the forest department will conduct bonfires of impounded animal skins, elephant tusks and rhino horns. India seems to have taken the cue from African countries like Kenya and Gabon where top political leaders light bonfires of ivory to discourage poaching and ivory trade.
In another step aimed at elephant conservation, radio surveillance towers would be set up to track jumbo movement. Measures will also be undertaken to prevent railway mishaps that kill elephants. Javadekar said dedicated corridors would be constructed for free movement of animals in national parks.
Source: The Telegraph
Post a Comment