Herbivore population on the rise

 

Until a few years ago, sightings of these species were rare in forests of Telangana. A number of sightings have been reported of other herbivores too, like the sambhar and spotted deer during the estimation. 

 

While there were no sightings of the tiger in Kawal, forest officials are optimistic that increase in prey base might lure the big cat. K. Damodar Reddy, the Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife Management) of Jannaram, which forms a major portion of the core area of the Kawal Tiger Reserve, said, “There were many sightings of herds of gaur with 13 to 14 individual animals in them. One large herd, with as many as 30 animals in it, were also spotted during the estimation. There were a good number of sightings of nilgai herds consisting of 3 to 4 animals. Efforts taken to decrease encroachments in forests and control human interference have shown result.” 

 

Another promising outcome of the estimation is reappearance of the hyena in the tiger reserve. Mr Reddy said, “Hyenas were captured in four camera traps. It is great news as the species had almost disappeared from the forests. There had been no hyena sighting for nearly 10 years. There were also increased sightings of wild dogs with one pack having more than 20 individual animals.”

 

The wildlife estimation was conducted according to techniques laid out by the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. The results got through the estimation will be collated by the forest department and sent to WII, after which the institute will come out with a range of figures indicating the presence of each animal spotted in the forests during the estimation.