Telangana: Man pushes beasts away

Hyderabad: Wildlife sanctuaries in Telangana state have been badly affected by loss of habitat due to encroachments or by the creation of new districts. The fragmentation of the sanctuaries that fall in different districts has affected their management.

In the Pranahita black buck sanctuary in Adilabad, the black buck population has dwindled. The Shivaram wildlife sanctuary has very few crocodiles, and Manjeera and other sanctuaries face all kinds of threats.

The state has two tiger reserves, seven sanctuaries and three national parks. Kinnerasani, Eturunagaram, Pranahita, Pakhal, Pocharam, Manjeera and Shivaram sanctuaries are mostly located in the districts of Adilabad, Karimnagar, Khammam and Medak.

Mr Imran Siddique, founder of the Hyderabad Tiger Conservation Society, said, "Around 40 per cent of the Pakhal wildlife sanctuary is facing threats, like encroachments and fragmentation. These sanctuaries must be re-aligned. The Pocharam sanctuary had leopard, nilgai and chowsingha, while Manjeera is a good bird sanctuary."

He said sanctuaries cover around 5,700 square kilometres or around five per cent of the total area of Telangana state. "Sanctuaries have to be managed as per wildlife management plans. The sanctuaries are split in all districts post districts formation," he said.

The 33-point agenda of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao enunciated in 2015 has not been implemented.