Chhattisgarh’s Achanakmar tiger reserve is in mourning. On the night of June 7th, members of the local forest community rushed to inform reserve officers of an injured tigress that they had seen in the forest’s Chhaparwa range. The news soon made it to the state forest officers in Raipur who rushed to the spot to locate and rescue the injured tigress.

She was a middle aged female -- one of Achanakmar’s rarest inhabitants. Scared, scarred, and tired, the tigress was tranquilised and taken to the local Kanan Pendari zoological facility for medical supervision and treatment. The news spread around the state with people coming up with theories to explain the wounds. While some believed she was injured by a snare trap, others speculated quills from a porcupine, or injuries from a Gaur’s horns, or even wounds inflicted by some barbed wire fencing. While all these theories still remain on the table, the bigger question remains unanswered -- will she be returned back to the wild after her recovery? 

Tigers in Chhattisgarh’s Achanakmar have an important role to play for the society. Through their instinctual territorial and hunting habits, they maintain the necessary ecological balance required to keep the diverse forest ecosystem and the Narmada-Maniyari-Arpa river watershed healthy. These resources, in return, sequester carbon, help fight climate change, and provide water for millions of people in Bilaspur, Dindori, and Pendra districts. These tigers, however, are in danger today. 

Tiger numbers in Achanakmar have been at an all time low for the last ten years. Poaching, encroachment, lax regulations, technical staff deficit, and a lackadaisical attitude amongst the surrounding communities has led to a catastrophic decrease in their population. Several tigers migrate from neighboring Kanha each year. They comb through Achanakmar looking for food and water, and several die in the process either due to hunger or due to hunting traps set by poachers.

Achanakmar, though, is not the country’s first tiger reserve on the brink of losing all its tigers to extinction. This had already happened in reserves like Sariska and Panna where poaching, and retaliatory killings by locals had driven tigers to extinction. Both these places, however, through ambitious conservation programs and use of radio collars, recovered their tiger populations. 

Sariska and Panna: Two Success Stories

Sariska lost its tigers to poaching. It was officially declared tiger-free on February 17th, 2005. In response, the Forest department sprung back with a plan of action to rehabilitate the big cats. A male and a female tiger from the adjoining Ranthambhore were radio collared, airlifted, and released in Sariska in July 2008. Another radio-collared tigress was later released a year after in early-2009. Park authorities collected radio collar data using satellites to track the movement of these cats and analyse important statistics. Researchers found these collars to be extremely useful in helping them understand human-wildlife conflict, status of tigers’ prey, and the critical areas best suited for recovery of the tiger population within the reserve. The information collected was also used to develop relevant forest management and ecotourism plans. Staff was retrained and reequipped, events emphasizing the need for wildlife conservation and the environment were organised, and turning wildlife conservation into one’s life’s purpose was instilled as a core ethic among forest officers and surrounding communities. Soon enough, these efforts began to bear fruit and the forest started to heal. Sariska, today, has around 20 tigers from a mere population of 2 lonely cats in 2008. 

Panna’s story follows a similar trajectory. Its tiger-recovery heavily used radio collaring to better understand human-wildlife conflict, habitat destruction patterns, and other obstacles to tigers in the reserve. Tiger numbers, consequently, rose from a 0 in 2009 to 54 in 2019. 

Achanakmar should chart its own path to success with inspiration from these two stories. We urge that the following steps be taken by relevant authorities:

• Reserve officials and the state government should radio collar the tigress and release her within Achanakmar under controlled conditions, such as a forest enclosure, to help her rewilder once her health allows for it. 
• Multiple events educating local communities about the ecological and economic benefits of conservation should be organised. Compulsory training of forest staff for monsoon and night patrolling should be carried out. 
• The reserve should be equipped with an emergency wildlife medical facility and a rehabilitation center. 
• Cattle-loss reimbursement programs should be streamlined and made more accessible. 
• Forest guards should be equipped with infrared and night vision equipment to better patrol forest patches in the night. 
• Above all, staff members should be educated on why conserving tigers is in the best interest of the country and why their actions ultimately help India and its people.       

In a forest that has historically lacked female tigresses due to poaching, this cat can be a promise of hope. Therefore, it is our sincere request, that this tigress be radio collared and released back in the wild once her health allows for it. Achanakmar can and must be saved.