Kozhikode :
Just two days after the controversial killing of a tiger in Wayanad, the villagers of Nidugumba in Kodagu district, just across the border in Karnataka, have given their counterparts in Wayanad a lesson in handling a man-animal conflict.
The villagers on Tuesday swiftly rescued a tigress which had strayed into a coffee plantation and got its feet entangled in a barbed-wire fence, without baying for its blood as it happened in Wayanad.
According to Karnataka forest officials, the entire community headed by the owner of the coffee plantation, Sullimada Muthanna, ensured that there was no mobbing of the struggling tiger. The villagers stood guard on the tiger till forest officials from the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve arrived and took control of the situation.
“The villagers were very cooperative. There was no violent mob baying for blood and the tigress was tranquilized swiftly,” Bandipur Tiger Reserve director Kumar Pushkar told TOI. With 10-12 tigers per 100 sq km, Nagarahole is known to have ones of the highest tiger densities in the country. It also produces a surplus of animals each year.
The animal was soon untangled from the fence and transported to the Mysore Zoo where it is currently under medical care.
Leading tiger ecologist and director of ScienceAsia, Ullas Karanth, said that the situation in Kodagu stands in stark contrast with the recent tragic outcome in Wayanad when a cornered tiger was first tranquilized and then shot dead amidst chaos created by a local mob.
“The restraint and positive conservation attitude of the Kodagu villagers is exemplary. They responded positively and acted as the guardians of the tiger. Other communities along the Western Ghats, including Wayanad, should realize that the tiger is a very precious heritage of ours. The government also has to develop more professional ways of dealing with such situations,” he said.
Meanwhile, Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithi president N Badusha said that historically, the people of Wayanad have coexisted peacefully with wild animals. “But over the last two months, certain vested interests, backed by political parties and religious institutions, have created a mass hysteria which has created animosity among people against animals. This hysteria has taken over even the people who usually speak up for the animals,” he said. Badusha added that even his son was attacked and house stoned for the pro-conservation stand taken by him.
source: http://www.m.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / by K R Rajeev, TNN / December 06th, 2012
