PANAJI
Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane has floated the idea of a 'tiger park' even as he said acquiring a striped cat for the zoo in Bondla has been abandoned for lack of requisite facilities there.
“We are not going to get a tiger in Bondla zoo as we don’t have the required facility,” Rane said, adding that instead a 'tiger park' or 'safari' will be proposed.
Rane said the forest department is scouting for land in Sanguem or Netravali to locate the 'tiger park'. He added that such a park needs specified features and fencing.
The forest minister did not specify the details of the 'tiger park' proposal through which the State seems keen to compensate for the absence of the majestic animal since mid-2017 in its only zoo at Bondla.
Bondla's tiger pair - Rana and Sandhya - were a star attraction but died of natural causes in 2016 and 2017.
The tiger is a touchy subject in Goa's forest conservation realm and a reserve recommended in the State's ideal Western Ghats range has been strongly resisted by the officialdom, prodded by the political executive.
Rane himself is on record saying he strongly opposes any attempt to have tiger reserve in the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary a proposal for which has been recommended by the MoEF&CC.
The move for a tiger reserve has also found support as it would buttress Goa's wildlife and environment protection stance in the Mhadei river water diversion dispute with Karnataka.
