Mangroves tigers under threat?

Krishnendu Mukherjee The Times of India 24 Sep 12;

PATHARPARA/JAMESPUR: Shyamal Mondal of Jamespur can still recall the gory day of 1995 in his village, when a tiger was brutally beaten to death after it strayed into the house of a fellow villager Binoy Mridha.

Like Mondal many in this village feel the days, when retaliatory killings of tigers was a usual sight, are not lost in the history. Late and a paltry payment of compensation and less interaction with the foresters during the tiger strayings have pushed the villagers to the edge.

A villager in Patharpara, which witnessed three incidents of tiger straying last week, said some were even contemplating poisoning the big cat once it's back to take away the kill. And the poison, too, is easily available.

"The pesticide the farmers apply in the field are quite strong and was used in the past to poison the tigers. Thiodan and demicron are two common pesticide which were applied before by villagers on dead goats. A tiger always comes back to claim its kill. The poison is mixed with molasses before applying on the kill. The sweet taste attracts the mangrove tigers more," said a villager in Patharpara, adding that another poison which was often used by the villagers was cartap hydrochloride.

Retaliatory tiger deaths were last reported from the mangroves in 2001 - at Pakhirala under Sunderbans Tiger Reserve (STR) area and Kishori Mohanpur under South 24-parganas forest division. However, the villagers suspect the trend may soon make a comeback with conservation efforts going for a toss.

"We are not being paid the compensation on a regular basis. At times, we don't even receive any compensation," said Subrata Mondal, adding that for compensation against a full-grown goat they receive a paltry Rs 700 instead of the market price of about Rs 3000.

A neighbour of Subrata, Sita Mondal, said the foresters do not even come in time when informed about tiger attacks. "Last Wednesday, when the tiger had killed 4 goats in our village, the officials were at least three hours late to reach," she said.

However, foresters have their take. "The treasury is not releasing funds since last five months. The entire conservation efforts have taken a hit for that. Not only compensation, payments for boats and fuel are also stuck due to that," said STR field director Subrat Mukherjee. Another forest official revealed that over Rs 5 lakh is lying due for last three months on account of fuel charges, while boat owners are supposed to receive Rs 3 lakh as three months' payment.

"If the forest officials fail to check repeated cases of tiger straying, we will have to resort to the extreme step - retaliatory killing. Next time, may be, we won't bother to inform the foresters if a tiger strays. We will take action on our own," said a villager.