The Naxalites are expanding their tentacles into the tiger territory. Thirty per cent of India’s tiger reserves are already under their control.

Indian forest officials, from the states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, present at the Global Tiger Recovery Programme (GTRP), complained of increasing Naxal infiltration in India’s heartland. The tiger reserves comprising Valmiki in Bihar, Palamau in Jharkhand, Indravati in Chhattisgarh, Buxa in West Bengal and Simplipal in Orissa are some of the reserves bearing the brunt of the Naxal menace.

JAIPUR: At a time when the state has embarked on a special campaign against illegal mining in the state, there is little that is stopping the mafia from going ahead with their activities even in a sacrosanct place like Ranthambore tiger reserve. The government has undertaken a two-month special drive against illegal mining in the state from April 23.

JAIPUR: Following a Supreme Court directive in April this year to demarcate and notify buffer zone around the Ranthambore and Sariska tiger reserves within three months or face the heat, the state forest department has made giant progress in the matter.

According to sources in the forest department, work in this regard at both the tiger reserves is nearing completion. The final report is yet to be prepared but a meeting has been held and the areas to be demarcated as buffer zones have been identified.

Even as Rajasthan’s minister of environment, the flamboyant Bina Kak has expressed apprehension at the rising cases of human-animal conflict, environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan is determined to play down such incidents.

Ms Kak cites the example of four people being killed in Rajathan within a span of three weeks due to man-animal conflict with two of the victims having been mauled to death in Ranthambore National Park.

ALWAR: The state forest department along with Wildlife Institute of India (WII) would soon be relocating a tigress to Sariska that had strayed into the Sultanpur area of Kota from the Ranthambore tiger reserve.

A team of experts from the WII and the state forest department are camping in Kota to trace the tigress.

One of India's iconic tiger reserves is emblematic of its efforts to save the big cat

Preserving India's wild tigers has become a popular cause today. Most people might never see a wild tiger, but they fully support measures to save it. They are aware that, in spite of several challenges, tigers do persist and need help. Poaching, mining, indifferent forest bureaucracies, highways in sanctuaries, and unrestrained consumerism — all pose a threat.

JAIPUR: When the first male tiger ST-1 was airlifted from the Ranthambore National Park to be relocated to the Sariska tiger reserve in June 2008, the dust settled over the matter faster than the tiger acclimatized to its new surroundings.

But the captivating film, Tiger Dynasty made for BBC by wildlife cinematographer S Nallamuthu, which tracks the translocation of ST-1 and ST-3 from Ranthambhore to Sariska, once again refreshed the trials the tigers went through while settling in an unfamiliar territory.

New Delhi India’s forest cover has shrunk marginally, says the latest government report. The reduction of 367 sq km (about the size of the Ranthambore National Park) means that the total forested land in the country is 23.81% of the geographical area.

The reduction implies the ministry of environment and forests will be even more uncomfortable with industrial projects in green areas. The ‘India State of Forest Report, 2011’ shows that while 12 states registered a fall in forest and tree cover, 15 states — led by Punjab – showed an increase.