CONSERVATION CHALLENGES

Unscientific management practices

Several management practices also have serious impacts on wildlife habitats. Planting of monoculture tree species, removal of bushes, climber cutting, formation of new roads inside reserves, creation of excessive waterholes, removal of dead and fallen timber, preburning of forests grasslands during summer, excessive fire lines are some of the unscientific management aspects practiced. Though most times done with good intentions, these practices affect the wildlife and their habitats. Many species of wildlife are directly affected by these practices. Habitat specialist wildlife species either get locally extinct or new species take over the area due to these management interventions.

For instance, the cleared short grass habitats (view lines maintained on either side of the path for improving wildlife sightings by tourists). The annually cleared short grass habitats offer ideal foraging areas for chital. Gaurs also depend on the clearings, at least seasonally. However, the trees standing in these cleared areas suffer heavy elephant damage and are likely to be eliminated in the long run. Secondly, high densities of chital may cause overgrazing of palatable grasses in some cleared view lines. Conseaquently, unpalatable and weedy plants such as Solanum species and the exotic Parthenium species, have in fact been found to have taken over some clearings. Such view lines may further favour chital and gaur at the expense of sambar, elephant and wild pig.

Further, due to the view lines the observed levels of damage to favoured trees by elephants are Grewia tilaefolia, Kydia calycina and Tectona grandis appears to be increasing as observed in Nagarahole. Compounding these are the often indiscriminate creation of waterholes, check dams and salt licks. This may lead to a lower mortality rate for elephants and trigger a high recruitment rate of calves into the general population which will in fact aggravate the long term problem by way of high density. In which case captures may become a painful necessity to ensure the carrying capacity of the natural forests.

Other challenges:
>> Progressive loss of habitat
>> Illegal hunting and wildlife trade
>> Commercial exploitation of forests
>> Removal of dead and fallen trees
>> Collection of minor forest produce
>> Livestock grazing
>> Fire