Sanctuary Asia – July 2019

MONITORING TIGERS

BEYOND TIGER RESERVES

Sanctuary |Conservation Action

By Aditya Joshi and Rizwan Mithawala

The slender, bony-white

trunks of dhavda trees, standing out

against their dark-barked neighbours,

appeared unusually mottled. As the

GPS guided us towards the centre of

the survey grid, we found ourselves

in the midst of a deafening chorus.

The dark mottles on the pale trunks

weren’t fl akes of the barks, but cicadas.

Hundreds of them, all males, buckling

and unbuckling their torso muscles to

blare out their love songs.

We were on a forest trail in the

Bawanthadi forest block in Maharashtra.

From predatory robber fl ies to tigers

and leopard scats, there were clear signs

that this was a healthy forest, though

not a ‘Protected Area’ with a national

park or wildlife sanctuary tag. And that

was exactly why we were there, with

camera traps, mapping devices and

other paraphernalia.

The Bawanthadi forest block, spread

across the Nagpur and Bhandara Forest

Divisions, spans across 600 sq. km. Vast

swathes of this deciduous forest harbour

a staggering diversity of insects, birds

and mammals. But what makes

Bawanthadi all-important is its spatial

location – the block forms a vital

corridor connecting the Pench (across

Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh)

and Nagzira-Nawegaon Tiger Reserves.

Genetic evidence and photographic

records of tiger dispersal across the

two tiger reserves have demonstrated

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION TRUST