Bihar to earn its stripes as Centre OKs revamp of ‘Kaimur’ as a tiger reserve

Patna: The Bihar government will develop the Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary (KWLS) as the state’s second tiger reserve, Environment and Forest Minister Prem Kumar said on Monday.

Kumar said the Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR), which is the state’s only national park, has reached its capacity, and now the state government was finalising modalities for translocating the big cats to KWLS.

“The Centre has given its in-principle approval to develop KWLS as another tiger reserve. The state government is now finalising the modalities for its development and also for translocating the big cats,” he said.

The Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary is spread over an area of 1,504.96 sq km. Environment and Forest Secretary Bandana Preyashi said: “Yes, the tiger population has substantially increased in the VTR over the years. The number of tigers in VTR is 54 now. It’s a great achievement for Bihar.”

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) at its 12th technical committee meeting gave in-principle approval to develop KWLS as another tiger reserve, she added. The VTR occupies a core area of 909.86 sq km of the Valmiki Sanctuary located in the West Champaran district.

It was developed as the 18th tiger reserve in 1990 and ranked fourth in the density of the tiger population. Rivers Gandak and Masan flow through the reserve, creating a breathtaking landscape.

The KWLS is bounded in the north by Bhojpur, Buxar and parts of UP’s Ghazipur, in the south by the districts of Palamu and Garhwa of Jharkhand and in the west by the districts of Sonabhadra and Varanasi of UP. On its east are the Aurangabad and Jehanabad districts of Bihar. The sanctuary supports sizable populations of leopard, sloth bear, chital, sambar, wild pig, nilgai and chowsingha, besides about 70 species of birds, officials said.

“It’s a perfect sanctuary to be developed as a tiger-bearing landscape,” said Preyashi.

“Tigers were present in KWLS till the mid-90s as is evident from the Forest Department’s records,” she added.

On the drive to cull nilgai and wild boars in six districts where these animals have caused widespread damage to crops, the minister said: “It was going on in Vaishali, East Champaran, Begusarai, Buxar, Siwan and Samastipur districts as per procedures. A total of 743 nilgais were killed by government-appointed shooters in these districts between

September 9 and 22.”