With the mercury on a steady upward drive, officials of the forest department are back to solving the poser thrown up at them every summer: How to provide water to the animals and birds in the state’s forest areas and, more importantly, protect them from poachers and hunters. With 22 wildlife sanctuaries and four national parks covering 12,579.205 sq km, or 4.57 per cent of the state’s area, the work is not exactly child’s play.
Principal chief conservator of forests for wildlife and chief wildlife warden S.V. Kumar said the poachers and hunters are a big challenge for them, who take advantage of the dry spell by setting traps around the few watering holes left with water in the forests. The department has found and removed about 500 such traps so far this year, he said. But each time a trap is missed, an animal is trapped or hurt, he added.
“We have now started patrolling various watering holes to ensure no traps are set up,” Mr Kumar said. He said since most watering holes in the forests dry up in summer, the animals venture out to nearby villages, only to be driven off or harmed by the people. Asked how the forest department was tackling the issue, Mr Kumar said: “We create artificial saucers or pits around the fringe areas and even inside the forests. Water to these pits is supplied by carrying it in lorries from the nearest water source, such as wells or tubewells.”
Earlier this month, the forest department started a tiger and panther census in an attempt to document the presence of not only these animals but also other wildlife in state forests. The results would also help the department in learn about water requirement of animals in the wild, officials said.