Kaziranga, which has more than 100 rhinos, still does not have a Tiger Conservation Plan. The fact has been revealed in the chapter on Kaziranga in the Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) report of Tiger Reserves, which was released on the occasion of International Tiger Day.
The fifth cycle of MEE of Tiger Reserves was released today. which has provided outstanding qualitative and quantitative insights into the operations of Tiger Reserve Network in the country.
MEE is jointly conducted by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
The detailed report was released by Union Minister of State Ashwini Kumar Choubey in a programme organised at the Corbett Tiger Reserve to celebrate Global Tiger Day.
“The Tiger Conservation Plan (TCP) is still under revision, and the new TCP is due in April 2025. This is not a good situation as the Kaziranga Tiger Reserve is presently being managed through the prescriptions of an unapproved TCP,” the report on Kaziranga says.
The evaluation of KTR was done from October 26, 2022, to November 4.
Kaziranga and Manas Tiger Reserve from Assam have been kept in the “Very Good” category.
Not just the local population, the entire state identifies with more than 100 years old Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve and the rhinos. They feel proud of this heritage and have a sense of belongingness with the reserve.
Kaziranga Tiger Reserve (KTR) was notified in 2006.
KTR has rich faunal diversity, which includes 35 species of mammal, 480 species of bird, 17 species of turtle, 35 species of snake, 24 species of frog and 42 species of fish.
Kaziranga Tiger Reserve (KTR) is a vast expanse of tall elephant grass meadows, swampy lagoons and dense tropical moist broad-leaved forests and is crisscrossed by four major rivers.
The authorities have asked the government and the NTCA to take cognisance of the still-under-revision Tiger Conservation Plan (TCP) of Kaziranga Tiger Reserve and a definite timeline must be fixed for getting it approved.
It says there are a number of notifications issued by the state government of Assam for the addition of new areas to KTR. “But these notifications are preliminary notifications and have not been taken to their logical conclusion,” the report said.
The forested areas of Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council have a contiguous boundary with KTR, which acts both as a corridor and refuge for the migrating wild animals of the reserve, especially during floods.
“But the level of coordination between the two administrative units for protection is apparently not up to the desired level,” it says.
It says the status of record keeping, systematic continuous monitoring of various processes and use of this information for adaptive management falls short of expectations. For example, there is no institutional mechanism to compile relevant data generated through anti-poaching camp duty registers in a protection monitoring form at the division level, which will prove useful in making a protection strategy.
The WhatsApp Group of officials, which inter alia allocates night patrolling duties, although very effective, do not translate into record-keeping for future tactical and strategic use.
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The conditions of the two interpretation centres of the tiger reserve are not commensurate with the status and reputation of the reserve. Visitors are not provided pre-visit briefings about the tiger reserves and are also not given pamphlets, information booklets/brochures, etc.
Kaziranga Tiger Reserve also requires an institutional mechanism to obtain feedback from the visitors in the TR, analyse the feedback and call out important suggestions, etc.” This has deprived the tiger reserve of valuable inputs that could have played an important role in improving the visitor experience.
KTR does not have a standard operating procedure (SoP) for the handling and redressal of complaints, protection monitoring and sighting of animals.
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