NSTR Core Area Closed for Jungle Safari Till Sept. 30 for Breeding of Wild Animals
Vijayawada:The forest department has suspended jungle safari in the core area of Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve for three months from Wednesday (September 30) to facilitate the breeding of wild animals, including tigers.
After rains, wild animals find abundant food and water, which helps them reproduce, produce litter, and raise their young. Wild animals include tiger, leopard, sloth bear, spotted deer, sambar, blackbuck, etc. It tends to breed during monsoon.
As part of the guidelines issued by the national tiger conservation authority, forest authorities have suspended jungle safari in the core zone to avoid any disturbance and trouble to wild animals during the breeding season.
Accordingly, they suspended the safari in vehicles in the core area.
However, the huts at Nallamala forest camps in Bairluty will remain open to the public. Ecotourism activities are allowed in the buffer zone in NSTR.
But to compensate for the restrictions imposed on jungle safari in the core zone, foresters have promised to provide such a facility in the buffer zone.
Meanwhile, authorities will ensure that wild animals are not disturbed during their breeding as the Central government has notified the core area of NSTR.
Vignesh Appavu, deputy director of Project Tiger Atmakur, said: “We have suspended vehicular jungle safari in the core area of NSTR for breeding of wild animals for three months and plan to organize it in the buffer zone while ecotourism activities continue without any hindrance in the buffer zone.”
Foresters, on the other hand, hope to witness a significant increase in the number of tigers in NSTR as the all-India tiger estimate is realized and they analyze the data. Around 45 lakh photographs of wild animals were taken through trap cameras and other methods.
According to the 2022 all-India tiger estimate, there are 87 tigers, including cubs, in NSTR. This means adult tiger number 63.
