Ashta Village, Tadoba buffer area, Maharashtra:
There was panic and fear as villagers bordering the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra came face to face with a tiger last February.
Ashta is one of the 79 villages in the buffer zone of the Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve in Maharashtra home to over 50 tigers.
With a tiger inside their village, the villagers surrounded the big cat. The frenzied crowds left it no space to escape, pushing it further into the village.
Harshvardhan Dhanwatay of TRACT, who filmed the big cat stranded in the village and the shouting crowds, some of whom also climbed trees to see what was happening, says, "It (the tiger) just went and sat on a haystack looking around, wondering, why are these people making so much noise around here when I just want to walk away."
It took all day for the Special Tiger Protection Force and the Forest Department to get the tiger out of the village and though one of the forest staff was injured, there were no casualties.
Tigers are territorial animals.
With increasing pressure within the core reserve area, sometimes these wild animals move into the buffer areas in search of food and that is what increases the threat of the man-animal conflict.
84 people have lost their lives in the last five years in such conflicts. In this region many of whom had ventured into the forest area in search of Mahua flowers, firewood or to answer nature's call.
This is the reason why efforts are now underway to reduce the dependence of villagers on the forest through schemes that provide them with LPG connections or help build toilet blocks.
The man-animal conflict is one of the most serious issues around our tiger habitats today. The government and the Forest Department have to continuing working with local communities to ensure conflicts like these don't alienate the very people whose support is key to efforts of conservation.
Ashta is one of the 79 villages in the buffer zone of the Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve in Maharashtra home to over 50 tigers.
With a tiger inside their village, the villagers surrounded the big cat. The frenzied crowds left it no space to escape, pushing it further into the village.
Harshvardhan Dhanwatay of TRACT, who filmed the big cat stranded in the village and the shouting crowds, some of whom also climbed trees to see what was happening, says, "It (the tiger) just went and sat on a haystack looking around, wondering, why are these people making so much noise around here when I just want to walk away."
It took all day for the Special Tiger Protection Force and the Forest Department to get the tiger out of the village and though one of the forest staff was injured, there were no casualties.
Tigers are territorial animals.
With increasing pressure within the core reserve area, sometimes these wild animals move into the buffer areas in search of food and that is what increases the threat of the man-animal conflict.
84 people have lost their lives in the last five years in such conflicts. In this region many of whom had ventured into the forest area in search of Mahua flowers, firewood or to answer nature's call.
This is the reason why efforts are now underway to reduce the dependence of villagers on the forest through schemes that provide them with LPG connections or help build toilet blocks.
The man-animal conflict is one of the most serious issues around our tiger habitats today. The government and the Forest Department have to continuing working with local communities to ensure conflicts like these don't alienate the very people whose support is key to efforts of conservation.
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