Sunderbans: Nylon net-fencing brings down man-tiger conflict

Sajnekhali (WB): The straying of Royal Bengal Tigers into villages around the Sunderbans forest has seen a dramatic decline after erection of nylon net-fencing on the forest-village interface. Not a single case of tiger straying into villages surrounding the forest had been reported this year, field director of the Sunderban tiger reserve (STR) Soumitra Dasgupta said. “When I took over as the STR field director, I laughed at the idea of net-fencing to stop entry of tigers, but it actually worked like a magic in controlling it,” Dasgupta said. Polypropelene net-fencing was erected over an area of 90 km in the Sunderbans, the net being tied with bamboo posts at a distance of two metres apart, he said, adding that the fencing was checked everyday. Apart from this, intensive patrolling by forest guards also helped in reducing the man-animal conflict, he said. Ujjwal Bhattacharya, the state’s principal chief conservator of forests, said overall a balanced holistic approach and building of trust with villagers led to the decrease in human-tiger conflict. [caption id=“attachment_1384051” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Agencies.[/caption] “This has been possible because of a balanced holistic approach, creation of awareness and building of trust with villagers,” Bhattacharya said. The story was different not very long ago when tigers would stray frequently into the villages surrounding the forest to prey on livestock, only to be killed by the villagers in some cases. Villagers now even rescued leopard cat, jungle cat and fishing cat and handed them over to the Forest Department, all because of awareness creation, the STR field director said. Dwelling on the subject, Pradeep Vyas, additional principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) recently said at a workshop organised by Sanctuary Asia and SHER, a wildlife NGO, that fencing was erected earlier too, but the tigers all the same entered the villages because the people damaged the nets. However, things have now changed, he acknowledged. “We have created awareness among villagers and built trust with them. Whenever news of tiger straying was reported, forest forces  immediately swung into action,” Vyas, former STR field director, said. “Earlier, we had just one expert, but now we have 10 trained men to use tranquiliser guns. New speed boats and strategically-placed floating patrol have cut our response time to a crisis to less than an hour”, he said. Vyas, however, cautioned that tiger straying could not be ruled out entirely. “Tiger is a fast learner and chances of its straying into villages will always be there,” he said. Six persons were killed by tigers in 2013 but it had happened because those people entered into areas in the prohibited areas of forests, he said. Asked if the dwindling prey base inside the forests led to tiger straying, Vyas forwarded a number of reasons saying a tiger might enter villages if it is old or injured and incapable of hunting or a tigress with cubs tend to stray into villages to get easy prey. The Forest Department was also trying to put forward an alternative method of honey collection, which is a major source of livelihood for the people in Sunderbans who venture into the forest risking their lives, Director of Sunderbans biosphere reserve Pradeep Shukla said. PTI