How tigers in Uttarakhand’s Thano range are under threat from an airport project

A WWF-Uttarakhand Forest Department study found new evidence of a breeding, thriving population of tigers at the Shivalik Elephant Reserve.

The WWF-Uttarakhand Forest Department study reveals that the tiger presence and dispersal across the Western Terai region are more extensive than previously thought. | Photo Credit: THEO WEBB

Historically, tigers existed in the Doon Valley in an area larger than what is now considered the Dehradun forest, restricted to around 450 sq km. But there have been no documented instances of their presence in this lower Himalayan region for the last five decades or so despite surveys being carried out. That is, until now.

Researchers from WWF, in collaboration with the Uttarakhand Forest Department, have gathered photographic evidence of resident male and female tigers from this reserve forest area and, in particular, the Thano range. The team’s interactions with local people also suggest the presence of cubs and, therefore, the existence of a breeding, thriving population.

Nitish Mani Tripathi, Divisional Forest Officer, Dehradun, and a co-author of the study, told Frontline that the Forest Department has photographic evidence of cubs and has been monitoring the tiger population continuously. “The evidence of a breeding population of tigers in such close proximity to a densely populated capital city shows the success of managerial conservation efforts,” Tripathi said. He added that there has been no conflict between the tigers and the local population as yet.

The study was published in June, in the spring edition of CATNews, a newsletter by the Cat Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The camera trap images were first gathered between September and October 2021.

While this is not surprising given how close this forest area is to the Rajaji Tiger Reserve, the study is important given the State government’s plans to expand the Jolly Grant airport. The project entails diversion of forest land from the Thano range, which is part of the Shivalik Elephant Reserve. It would sever habitat connectivity between the Rajaji-Shivalik ecosystem and the lower Himalaya for species such as tigers, elephants, leopards, and bears.

A camera trap photograph of a female tiger in Thano near Dehradun. | Photo Credit: Joint study by WWF and Uttarakhand Forest Department published in CATNEWS

In fact, the WWF study states that the Dehradun Forest Division “serves as a vital wildlife corridor for elephants” and its connection to other reserve forests and protected areas “has enabled the occurrence and periodic movement of wild elephants, leopards, and some species of ungulates”. It also shows that the closest point where cameras captured tiger movement was about 1.5 km (measured aerially) from the airport.

Nevertheless, the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the airport expansion project claims: “No schedule I fauna has been reported in the study area probably due to absence of any dense forest.” “Schedule I” refers to a schedule of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, which accords the highest level of legal protection to species such as tigers, elephants, and leopards.

The fact that the EIA reported no Schedule I species is surprising because the All India Tiger monitoring reports have been showing elephants and leopards in these areas. “And now the WWF study shows even tigers,” said Ninad Munagi, a postdoctoral researcher at Aarhus University. “Land use diversions must be avoided, at least not without mitigating the impacts on wildlife and their movement,” Munagi added. News reports have previously highlighted how fragmented landscapes and broken wildlife corridors in the Shivalik ecosystem have increased human-elephant conflict. There have also been instances of elephants breaking down walls and making it to the Jolly Grant airport runway.

“The reason Thano has become important now is because other jungles across Dehradun have been destroyed,” said Anu Pant, a social activist based in Dehradun. He explained that if a vital wildlife habitat like Thano is destroyed, it could lead to human-wildlife conflict. Pant is currently a petitioner before the Uttarakhand High Court, seeking a remedy for human-wildlife conflict across the State. Pant also added that Thano’s dense vegetation helps with the regulation of local climate in a city as concretised as Dehradun.

Highlights

• Researchers from WWF, in collaboration with the Uttarakhand Forest Department, have gathered photographic evidence of resident male and female tigers from the Thano range in Uttarakhand.
• The study assumes significance given the State government’s plans to expand the Jolly Grant airport.
• The project when implemented would sever habitat connectivity between the Rajaji-Shivalik ecosystem and the lower Himalaya for species such as tigers, elephants, leopards, and bears.

In November 2020, the State wildlife board had approved the de-notification of the elephant reserve to make way for the airport expansion. In January 2021, Uttarakhand High Court had stayed the order.

Areas in and around the Dehradun valley, including satellite cities like Doiwala and Vikas Nagar, were considered devoid of tiger populations. In the last few years, tigers have also disappeared from adjoining protected areas like the western section of the Rajaji Tiger Reserve, owing largely to habitat disturbances such as railways and roads that cut through them. To remedy the situation, tigers have been translocated from the Corbett Tiger Reserve to the western section of the Rajaji Tiger Reserve.

A typical habitat of the tiger in Uttarakhand. | Photo Credit: Joint study by WWF and Uttarakhand forest department published in  CATNEWS

“While tiger translocations from other areas into Western-Rajaji are important to bring the population back, these findings show the importance of maintaining both connectivity between the Rajaji Reserve and the lower Himalaya. This will enable the natural dispersal of tigers, along with establishing a stable growing population,” said Devavrat Pawar, lead author of the study. Tripathi, too, added that what the forest department had been trying to achieve in Rajaji had occurred naturally in the Dehradun forest: tiger dispersal and the establishment of a breeding population.

Previously, instances of tiger presence in places like Tehri and Kedarnath have been documented. So, Pawar explained that while tigers could be moving out from Corbett and Rajaji, “there is also a possibility that these dispersing tigers have colonised various areas of the Uttarakhand Himalayas and persisted at low densities”.

Eastern Rajaji and Corbett are the two most prominent tiger populations in the Western Terai. However, there is still a small tiger population supported by a substantial block of viable habitat on the west bank of the Ganges. This study reveals that the tiger presence and dispersal across the region are more extensive than previously thought. It underscores the urgent requirement to enhance wildlife management beyond Protected Area boundaries and highlights the critical importance of identifying, preserving, and restoring corridors. Pawar also emphasised the necessity of implementing measures such as constructing highway underpasses for wildlife to ensure the long-term survival of tiger and other wildlife populations in the Shivalik and lower Himalayan region.

“Considering India’s aspiration to recover tigers across its historical baseline, it is vital to conserve such recovery sites and corridors that connect potential habitats. Land use changes in high priority recovery sites must follow similar rules like that of sites with Schedule1 species occurrence,” Munagi said. He also pointed to opportunities for decentralised tourism, with benefits flowing to local communities in areas like the reserve forest in Dehradun located outside the Protected Area network, i.e. wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, and tiger reserves.

Rishika Pardikar is an environment reporter covering science, law, and policy. She is based in Dehradun.