Haryana to explore possibility of establishing tiger park

Chandigarh: Days after the sighting of a tiger in Haryana's Kalesar National Park, the first spotting in the state in 110 years, Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal on Monday asked forest and wildlife officials to explore the possibility of establishing a tiger park.

"The officials should explore the possibility of establishing a tiger park," an official statement quoting Kaushal said.

Presiding over the first meeting of the Haryana State Biodiversity Board, the Chief Secretary also asked the officials to collect information regarding areas where the population of Nilgai and other wild animals has increased.

A committee will prepare its report and submit it within a month. The next meeting of the board will be held in June, he said.

The state has prepared a State Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2021-2030 for biodiversity conservation and management, which aims to balance the conservation of biodiversity with sustainable development.

Kaushal said that under this action plan prepared by the Wildlife Institute of India, it has been proposed to set up a Haryana Biodiversity Knowledge Centre that will serve as a think-tank and innovation of technologies.

State Forests and Wildlife Minister Kanwar Pal on April 27 said a tiger was caught on a camera trap this month in Kalesar park.

"It is a proud moment for the state as the tiger was seen in the Kalesar area after 110 years. The last sighting was reported in 1913," Kanwar Pal wrote on his Facebook post. He also tagged two pictures of the wild cat.

Responding to developments, Additional Chief Secretary (Forests and Wildlife) Vineet Garg said the tiger is believed to have reached Kalesar from the Rajaji National Park in Dehradun. It was captured on the camera trap twice on April 18-19.

Wildlife experts believe the sighting of the tiger at both adjoining national parks of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh indicates the need to restore the habitat of the 810-km Terai Arc landscape, comprising both parks, between the Yamuna river in the west and the Bhagmati river in the east, dominated by leopards.