Srisailam Tiger Reserve: Thirsty wild animals raid villages for water
Kurnool: Animals in the Srisailam Tiger Reserve are suffering from lack of water bodies. A bear recently strayed into a residential area in Atmakur mandal and injured five people.
Another bear made an unexpected entry into human habitations at Kothapalli mandal, to quench its thirst. As water resources in the forest run dry, wild animals are forced to enter human habitats in sear-ch of water. Villagers living in areas abutting the forest line often have to contend with visitors from the forest during the summer.
Wildlife enthusiasts are concerned about the effect of water scarcity on wild animals in the forests of Kurnool district. The ever-increasing temperature in the district is forcing animals to enter human habitations in search of water. Villagers themselves have to travel tens of kilometres to fetch water due to the depletion of the groundwater table.
The scarcity of drinking water has affected the district like never before. Kurnool district has a green cover of over two lakh acres, including evergreen forests and protected forests. The concentration of forests is highest in the taluks of Atmakur and Nandyal. A wild life survey conducted in 2007 counted over 700 types of animals, including cheetahs, black bucks, wild hogs, peacocks, pangolins, and several rare species of birds.
Karunakar, a wild life enthusiast, said earlier the wild animals used to cover a distance of around 5 km around the villages for water. But now, I see that they are forced to walk for over 20 km or so.
He urged the forest department to help animals by creating water holes in areas frequented by them. “With water bodies going dry in the forest areas that border Atmakur, bears are for-ced to come into residential areas for water. Even here, they don’t get enough. They are moving around in packs, desperate for water. Some have attacked civilians and entered into houses,” he said.
The divisional forest officer of Atmakur said they had constructed 150 artificial saucer ponds at strategic locations in the Tiger Reserve.
“About 12 tankers have been engaged to replenish these saucer tanks,” he said.
He added that another intervention commissioned by the forest department was the drilling of solar-powered bore wells. “Such solar wells have been dug at nine places recently,” he said.
He also said that during the summer months forest officials had to deal with several problems, including forest fires. He added that his staff was doing everything in its power and adopting innovative methods to stop poaching.
