Elément très important de zootechnie pour faciliter une cohabitation à venir : apprendre aux tigres (qui vivent , de fait, dans les mêmes lieux que les
hommes - voir "Ils s'en sortent par eux mêmes..." du 17 janvier -) à éviter les humains : anticiper sur les interactions, utilisation du taser et autres méthodes non létales (appliquées avec succès aux loups dans le Parc de Yellowstone aux USA), élimination en dernier recours (en cas d'échec manifeste de l'apprentissage pour un individu au
comportement dangereux). Times of India, ce jour.
Cette réflexion intervient après un conflit urbain, où 5 personnes ont été blessées par une tigresse en zone résidentielle. Celle - ci est en interaction négative systématique, depuis 6
ans, en dépit de translocations après chaque incident, qui sans accompagnement, n'apprennent rien à l'animal ( The Hindu, ce jour et Times of India, il y a 3 jours).
Voir aussi sur ce blog l'article "Ils s'en sortent par eux - mêmes" du 17 janvier.
REFLEXION GENERALE : PUNE: The chief wildlife warden of Maharashtra has issued advisories to the state's four tiger reserves -Sahyadri Tiger Reserve in Kolhapur,
Tadoba-Andhari in Chandrapur, Pench
in Nagpur and Melghat in Amravati - to follow the
Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) recently released by the National Tiger Conservation
Authority (NTCA), framed to deal with emergencies arising because of tigers straying into human-dominated landscapes.
Among other things, the SOP strictly
prohibits gunning down a tiger or leopard. It also says that the district authorities need to ensure law and order by imposing section 144 of the CrPc to restrain agitated locals from surrounding
the spot where the animal was seen. The guidelines assume significance for Pune too, as the city has witnessed cases of leopards straying into human habitations off late, the most recent being on January 25 in the Dehu Road cantonment limits.
The SOP says that "under no circumstances, a tiger should be eliminated (by invoking the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972) if it is not habituated to causing
human death".
Forest officials in Pune said that the new norms would be applicable to Pune as well. "Almost all the guidelines and procedures mentioned in SOP can be used while trapping a leopard in case it
strays into human habitats," a senior forest official said.
An NTCA official told TOI that the SOP amalgamates all the earlier guidelines and brings them under a single point of reference. "There were guidelines in this regard but they were scattered.
Hence, officials had difficulty in referring to them and seemed unaware of important rules. Also, the SOP makes it clear that shooting a tiger or leopard is the last resort, which will have to be
corroborated with evidence. If a tiger or a leopard is shot during the event of it having strayed into a human habitat, the same will have to be documented. This means that the authorities
concerned will have to prove that the animal was gunned down in extreme conditions, after having exhausted all other options," the official said.
He added that this advisory existed earlier, but many were oblivious to it.
State chief wildlife warden S W H Naqvi said the SOP has been sent to all the tiger reserves in Maharashtra. "The SOP suggests field actions to deal with strayed wild carnivores (tiger/ leopard).
It suggests setting up camera traps near the kill site to confirm the identity of the animal. In addition, it lists what should be done on the spot, what should be carried along, among other
things. It thus provides the basic minimum steps which are required to be taken at the field level to deal with such cases," he said.
Under the SOP, a committee has to be constituted for technical guidance and monitoring on a day-to-day basis after a big cat strays into a human-dominated habitat. It also suggests that the tiger
and its source area should be identified by comparing camera trap photographs with those in the National Repository of Camera Trap Photographs of Tigers or the reserve level photo databases.
It says that if it is an area which is historically prone to such cases, detailed research should be carried out in order to ascertain the reasons for the recurring tiger emergencies. It further
states that in case of confirmed livestock depredation, human injury, fatal encounters or frequent straying of tigers near human settlements, authorities should set up automatic closure
traps.
Officials said the imposition of section 144 of the CrPc existed earlier as an advisory. The SOP spells it out clearly so that the authorities concerned become aware of its existence. "It is also
necessary that police and local administration be involved at an early stage of the straying incidents. Effective coordination with them is critical to control mobs, which, as has been seen in
several instances, worsen the situation and lead to avoidable fatalities or tragedies," the SOP says.
The 22-page document also says that if continuous trapping efforts fail, chemical immobilisation of the animal should be carried out by an expert team, including a veterinarian. It adds that if
the tranquilised tiger is found to be healthy and young, it should be released after radio collaring into a suitable habitat with adequate prey base, away from human settlements, after notifying
the NTCA.
TASER :
CHANDRAPUR: From now on taming the problem tigers will become easy. The National
Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is all set to introduce Taser technology for immediate immobilization of distressed animals in forest areas. Officers
in the areas prone to man-animal conflict
will be provided with Taser pistols and pump guns - both non-lethal weapons.
"We will introduce Taser technology and demonstration of these guns will be given on Wednesday," said DIG of NTCA SP Yadav in the
workshop organized for senior forest officials of Karnataka, Odisha and Maharashtra on Tuesday. Director of WII PR Sinha, PCCF
(wildlife) SWH Naqvi, APCCF (wildlife) Anil Mohan, AIG (regional office), NTCA Ravikiran Govekar, faculties from WII, Parag Nigam and Habib Bilal along with Yadav were key guests participating in the workshop. CCF and DCF rank
officers from Karnataka and Odisha and their
counterparts from Maharashtra were present in the workshop which will run for two days.
He claimed that effective protection in forest areas across the country has helped raising the tiger population. "However same could be put as one of the reason for straying of tigers in human
dominated landscape. Dwindling prey base could be the other reason for straying of tigers," he said.
Yadav claimed that the NTCA has come out with standard operating procedure (SOP) for handling of tigers straying into human dominated landscape. "Success of the field officers in dealing such
situation could help in saving the tigers and its source. Our failure would bring bad name and criticism. We could be gheraoed and even get beaten," he warned.
Director of WII Sinha pointed out that degradation and fragmentation of habitat and poaching of wildlife are the key reasons for straying of tigers into human dominated landscapes. He agreed that
the nature of man-animal conflict in Tadoba landscape is quite difficult.
Earlier PCCF (wildlife) SWH Naqvi delivered the introductory remarks. and claimed that in light of recent incidence of shooting of troublesome tigress in Gondia, organization of workshop to deal
with the straying tigers is most appropriate in terms of place and the timing.
CONFLIT URBAIN :
The Hindu :
Tigress released in Karnataka 71 days ago trapped again in Wayanad last week
Photo-matching done at the Centre for Wildlife Studies - India (CWS) in Bangalore now shows that the tiger trapped in Wayanad this Saturday is a ‘problem tiger’ that had created a conflict
situation at a place called Nalkeri on the boundary of the Nagarahole National Park in Karnataka just 71 days ago.
The finding points to need for a re-examination of the capture-release practice followed by the conservation officials in dealing with ‘problem tigers’ that stray into human habitations and cause
conflict situations.
This tiger was captured in a box trap by the Karnataka Forest officials on November 23 after two cattle-killing incidents on November 20 and 21 in Nalkeri village outside the western boundary of
the Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, according to conservation zoologist and director of CWS - India Programme, K. Ullas Karanth.
It was an injured tiger and, after treatment at the Mysore zoo, was released by late evening on the same day near a place called Hidagalapanchi in Karnataka’s Bandipur Tiger Reserve. The place of
release is less than 10 km, as the crow flies, from the adjoining Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala.
Dr. Karanth told The Hindu that the CWS had searched its database containing the stripe patterns of over 600 individually identifiable tigers surviving in the Malanad-Mysore landscape —
a database that contains camera-trap pictures gathered over the years from the region — and found the match for the stripe pattern of the tiger captured this Saturday in Wayanad from a conflict
situation.
The study showed that this tiger—a tigress, in fact—is the same one that was repeatedly captured by camera-traps and even two wildlife photographers during the period from 2007 to 2012 from a
particular area in Nagarahole National Park. It was pushed out of this area, which apparently was its home range, due to unknown reasons that could include inability to retain the home range in
the face of competition. It started straying into the human habitations outside Nagarahole in November 2012, to be trapped by the Karnataka Forest officials. It returned once again to human
settlements in neighbouring Kerala after being released in Bandipur Tiger Reserve. Apparently, the animal could not hunt and survive.
Poor condition
In a report to the Forest Department on Monday, Dr. Karanth and his associates N. Samba Kumar and Narendra Patil said the tigress, now in Thrissur zoo, should not be released back in the wild. It
was eight years or more in age and in a very poor condition.
Times of India :
KOZHIKODE: Five persons, including a tahsildar and panchayat president, were injured when a tiger attacked them at Thirunelli in Wayanad
on Saturday. The animal was later tranquilized and shifted to the zoo in Thrissur.
The tiger was first spotted by Lijin of Vadachirakunnu Colony on Saturday morning. The beast attacked and injured him. Around 11.30am, it attacked a school teacher, Krishnakumar. He was
standing in front of his house when the big cat pounced on him. He was later shifted to Kozhikode medical college hospital.
