Baripada: The Similipal Tiger Reserve Project (STR) has taken up a host of measures to ensure safety of wildlife and food chain for tigers and elephants inside the Similipal Sanctuary in Mayurbhanj district.
The STR has formed a dog squad to sniff out dangers from poachers to wildlife. It is going to press two trained dogs into service. The dogs are named Maya and Drona.
The STR is focused on increasing the tiger population and curbing the movements of poachers inside the sanctuary area. The forest officials and forest protection committees are creating awareness on safety of wildlife and greenery in the sanctuary.
Famous for tiger conservation and as a national park, the Similipal sanctuary spread over 2,750 square/km has been accorded the World Heritage status by the UNESCO.
However, despite this, wildlife inside the sanctuary still faces dangers from poacher, fire, snares and sound pollution. To ward off such dangers, the STR has formed a dog squad comprising four officials and two dogs.
They have received training for seven months at Chandigarh. The dogs can follow footprints of wild animals by sniffing and will track the straying animals. The dogs will guide and bring them back to their habitats.
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Maya and Drona can also sniff gun powder, smells of guns, and footprints of poachers. Maintaining the food chain for tigers inside the sanctuary is vital.
“To ensure population growth of tigers, there is a need for increasing herbivores. Then, making provision of sufficient grass for herbivores is in focus. The forest department has taken up a lot of measures for creating grasslands inside the sanctuary,” said M Jagjayananda, the Field Director of the STR.
He said there is a plenty of sal trees in Similipal, but one per cent of grassland is there.
“By January, the villages in the core area will be relocated and grasslands created. Grasslands will spur the population growth of herbivores,” he exuded hope.
The department has installed warning lighters inside the sanctuary to ward off man-elephant conflicts. If elephants enter villages, warning lighters will automatically emit light with help of their sensors.
People will get advance warning about the entry of wild elephants.
“There is a need for creating bamboo forests inside the sanctuary. It will help elephants get food. The size of tiger population will also go up,”said Bhanumitra Acharya, former honorary wildlife warden.
PNN