Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane’s comments of ‘non-resident’ tigers in Goa expectedly set off not just an acerbic reaction from environmentalists and conservationists but also invited ridicule on social media as he became the butt of jokes for the seemingly ignorant comments on the issue.
To recall, Vishwajit who has recently been appointed the minister of Forests -- the first time in his 15 year career as a minister -- claimed that for as long as he was minister there was no question of the Mhadei and possibly the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary being declared as a tiger reserve, because, according to him, the tigers that are spotted in Goa are actually residents of other neighbouring states and are not residents of Goa. He didn’t however specify why having a tiger reserve in Goa would be detrimental to the state and its environment.
Rane claims he is an ‘environmentalist’ and cites his various safari trips to countries of eastern and South Africa to snap up pictures of African wildlife to say he loves wildlife.
That’s a hollow argument to make for several reasons. Firstly, admiring wildlife in some faraway country as a tourist on a safari or as a wildlife photographer and showing no concern for the environment back home doesn’t justify claims of being a nature lover or animal lover. It makes one a hypocrite.
But the tiger story goes beyond Rane’s blatantly faux love for nature. It also goes beyond whether Goa needs a tiger sanctuary or not. Instead it’s Rane’s attitude towards the environment in Goa that is most concerning. His comments betray a total disregard and disdain for Goa’s environment.
Rane’s confident boast that there are no tigers in Goa when the Goa Forest Department, a department he is now heading, has repeatedly stated that Goa has between five to eight tigers at least three of whom are resident in the state makes us wonder why is it that Rane is so eager to insist that there are no tigers in Goa.
Instead, Rane should be taking on the views of the experts and doing what is in the best interest of Goa’s forests and Western Ghats ecosystem. The forest department isn’t about promoting ecotourism, or allowing more and more human activity within forested areas in the name of ‘forest management’ but rather allowing Goa’s forests to remain undisturbed in order that the last few remaining spaces on earth untouched by human activity continue to remain that way.
Why does the presence of tigers in Goa make Rane uneasy and combative? Back in 2019 Goa witnessed an unfathomable tragedy with the killing of four tigers -- three cubs and a tigress “ that died after eating a poisoned carcass. The National Tiger Conservation Authority, arguably the best available experts on tigers in the country has themselves recommended that the Mhadei and possibly the Mollem wildlife sanctuaries have warned that “without upgrading the legal status of Goa's protected areas to that of a tiger reserve and putting in place a strong protection regime in place, the state may become a death trap for tigers dispersing in this landscape.”
We are left to wonder if Rane is suggesting that he is more informed than the experts, or whether his decision-making is clouded by other considerations.
