Bareilly (UP): A "rewilding" centre will come up in the next few months at the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh to stop leopards and tigers from turning man-eaters, officials said on Sunday.
"Wild animals normally maintain critical distance with humans and their habitation. Because of the landscape of the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR), they are losing this critical distance with repeated chance encounters. So, we are trying to get these animals to maintain that distance," PTR Deputy Director Naveen Khandelwal told.
Rewilding is a concept to reverse the behaviour of the tigers which normally reside in the close vicinity of human habitation, he elaborated. The aim is to reaccustom them with the wild habitat, Khandelwal said. He said a rewilding centre exists in Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh. Asked when the rewilding centre at the tiger reserve in Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit district would see the light of the day, Khandelwal said, "We are planning to complete this in this financial year only." Elaborating more on this, LalitVerma, Chief Conservator of Forests, Bareilly said, "Till now, the usual practice has been that tigers and leopards caught in the populated areas were sent to zoological gardens. But, these animals would be sent to rewilding centres."
"A proposal in this regard has been sent to the state government for its approval and all the formalities have been completed. The land for the rewilding centre has also been finalised," Verma said.