PANAJI
Amid on-going legal battle to declare Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as Tiger Reserve, a fresh sighting of a tigress with her two cubs was reported at Chorla Ghat area, which has now revived the debate that the Mhadei sanctuary is home for big cat. A week back, the locals even found tiger scat in the protected area.
A video of a tigress moving around with her two cubs along the Chorla area has been captured by locals and the same has been confirmed by environmentalist Rajendra Kerkar, who says that a recent study by Karnataka and Maharashtra forest officials have revealed that tigers, sighted in the Goa’s wild are the resident tigers and not migratory.
Speaking to The Goan, Kerkar said that the tigress and her cubs have been roaring in the Mhadei for the last one week. He said, before them, a tiger was also spotted by some locals and truck drivers, along Anjunem dam and Chorla ghat areas.
“They all are currently residing within the protected areas of Mhadei. Like how tigers are resident to Bhimgad WLS and Kali tiger reserve, in Goa too, the big cats are resident of Mhadei,” he said adding that there is enough latest evidence to prove the same.
He said that it can be even proven that the two cubs were born in the Mhadei wilds.
The Supreme Court is hearing a petition filed by the Goa government challenging the Bombay High Court order dated July 24, 2023, directing the State to declare the Mhadei wildlife sanctuary and its surrounding areas as a tiger reserve within three months. The State had moved the highest bench in September, last year, while it is currently facing a contempt plea in the High Court.
The Mhadei wildlife sanctuary was estimated to have five tigers in 2014, but subsequent counts placed the figure at three in 2018, the time of the last census. The sanctuary made news for the wrong reasons in January 2020, when an adult tigress and three male young adults were found poisoned to death.
Since, Goa government has been dragging its feet to declare the Mhadei WLS as tiger reserve despite recommendation from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), environmental NGO, the Goa Foundation, had moved the Bombay high court in Goa to direct the state to declare the sanctuaries as tiger habitats.
Though the State government has been in denial mode that the tigers are the habitants of Goa, the record shows that they have been residents of the State's wild since 2002.
