Wildlife Conservation in Vidarbha: What Worked and What Failed

thenewsdirt
Jan 1
6 min read

Vidarbha’s forests in eastern Maharashtra sustain some of the country’s richest wildlife. Official counts in 2021 recorded at least 352 tigers and 635 leopards in Vidarbha.

At the same time, ecologists report that other species have suffered sharp declines. Iconic scavengers such as white rumped vultures have nearly vanished from these forests.

This contrast between booming big cats and other losses highlights the complexity of Vidarbha’s conservation story.

Big Cats: Population Growth and Rising Conflicts

Population surveys by forest authorities and researchers have shown a clear rise in Vidarbha’s big cats.

Joint monitoring reports by state authorities and national wildlife bodies found at least 352 tigers and 635 leopards in the region’s reserves in 2021.

This was up from earlier estimates that had recorded lower numbers in previous years. These figures imply that Vidarbha today hosts a significant share of Maharashtra’s large predators. Experts note that strengthened protection through anti poaching patrols, habitat monitoring, legal enforcement, and sustained conservation programmes has driven this increase.

At the same time, forest managers acknowledge that protecting the growing populations has become increasingly complex.

Beyond protected parks, independent field studies have also found healthy big cat numbers. Camera trap surveys conducted outside official tiger reserves documented substantial populations of both tigers and leopards living in forest patches that do not fall under core protection. In several such landscapes, tiger densities were found to rival or exceed those inside notified reserves.

These findings revealed that well protected forests outside tiger reserves can sustain viable predator populations and that coexistence with local communities has played a role in keeping these habitats functional. In effect, large carnivore conservation in Vidarbha has not been confined to fenced reserves alone.

However, this growth has coincided with a rise in human animal conflict. As large predator numbers increase, encounters with people living on forest fringes have become more frequent. In recent years, multiple districts in Vidarbha have reported livestock losses, crop damage, and occasional fatal attacks on humans.

Forest officials and local residents describe regular sightings of tigers moving through agricultural land and approaching settlements, particularly in Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, and adjoining areas. The proximity of expanding predator populations to densely inhabited rural landscapes has altered everyday life for many villages.

In response, several mitigation measures have been introduced. In some areas, farmland adjacent to forest boundaries has been leased under schemes that provide families with a fixed income, reducing the need for daily entry into forest zones.

Plans have also been drawn up to relocate select villages located deep inside reserve boundaries where conflict risks are highest. Technological interventions have expanded as well, with large scale camera trap networks now deployed to monitor tiger movement beyond core habitats.

In Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, an AI based monitoring system uses cameras to generate alerts when tigers approach human settlements. These efforts aim to reduce surprise encounters and improve early warning capacity.

The experience of the last decade shows that while tiger and leopard populations have recovered strongly, this success has produced new pressures. Conservation in Vidarbha now involves managing not only wildlife numbers but also the social and spatial consequences of those numbers increasing across shared landscapes.

Vultures and Other Species at Risk

Not all wildlife in Vidarbha has recovered. Vultures provide one of the clearest examples of conservation failure followed by cautious attempts at revival.

The widespread veterinary use of diclofenac in earlier decades caused catastrophic declines in vulture populations across India.

In Vidarbha, forests that once supported large numbers of scavenging birds witnessed near total collapse.

Surveys conducted in the years following the ban on the drug found that vultures had disappeared from many reserves, including major protected areas.

By the early 2010s, wild vultures were virtually absent from landscapes such as Melghat and Tadoba. Later assessments confirmed that some reserves no longer supported a single breeding individual. This loss disrupted ecological processes, as vultures play a critical role in carcass disposal and disease control. Their disappearance also reflected deeper problems in regulating toxic veterinary substances in rural areas.

Localised recovery efforts emerged in parts of Gadchiroli district, where communities established feeding stations using carcasses free from harmful drugs. These so called vulture restaurants helped sustain a small population for several years.

Villagers participated actively by managing feeding sites and monitoring bird activity. At their peak, these initiatives supported over a hundred vultures. However, when institutional support declined and feeding stations closed, the population dropped sharply again.

The episode demonstrated that short term interventions without sustained backing struggle to deliver lasting recovery.

In recent years, conservation agencies shifted towards captive breeding and reintroduction. Vultures bred in specialised centres were transported to Vidarbha and housed in pre release aviaries within tiger reserves.

Following acclimatisation, the birds were released into the wild. These releases marked the first attempts to restore vulture populations in the region through assisted methods. Initial monitoring showed that the birds were capable of flight and foraging but often travelled long distances beyond reserve boundaries.

Several reintroduced vultures later died after feeding on contaminated carcasses outside protected areas. Postmortem findings indicated organ failure consistent with exposure to toxic veterinary drugs. These incidents underlined the fragility of recovery efforts when broader landscape conditions remain unsafe.

Conservation workers have since emphasised the importance of ensuring drug free carcass availability and rebuilding community based feeding networks to support released birds.

Other species in Vidarbha face quieter declines. The forest owlet, a rare species rediscovered in central India in the late twentieth century, remains restricted to a few forest pockets, primarily in Melghat.

Its global population is estimated to be extremely small. The survival of this bird depends on the integrity of dry deciduous forests, which are increasingly fragmented.

Similarly, the central Indian giant squirrel has shown declining numbers linked to habitat degradation, forest fires, and replacement of mixed forests with single species plantations.

Several smaller mammals, reptiles, and birds remain legally protected yet vulnerable to ongoing habitat change.

Their declining presence signals stress within forest ecosystems that is not always captured by headline species counts. While tigers dominate conservation narratives, the condition of these lesser known species provides a more nuanced measure of ecological health.

Habitat Pressures and Fire

Wildlife conservation outcomes in Vidarbha are closely tied to the condition of forest habitats. Although the region contains a large proportion of Maharashtra’s forest cover, detailed assessments reveal losses and degradation beneath aggregate figures.

Satellite analysis and district level data show that several Vidarbha districts have experienced net forest loss over recent years. In many cases, plantation driven increases in tree cover have not translated into functional forest ecosystems.

Invasive plant species such as lantana and ipomoea have spread widely, suppressing native vegetation and reducing habitat quality for herbivores and ground nesting birds. Aquatic invasive species have affected wetlands, altering feeding and breeding grounds for water dependent wildlife. Monoculture plantations, while increasing canopy cover, often lack the structural diversity needed to support complex food webs.

Infrastructure expansion has further fragmented landscapes. Roads, transmission lines, and mining projects have narrowed wildlife corridors connecting reserves. Although core protected areas remain intact, the loss of connectivity poses long term risks by isolating animal populations. Conservation assessments increasingly stress that the survival of wide ranging species depends on maintaining these linkages across human dominated areas.

Forest fires have emerged as a major driver of habitat degradation. In recent years, Vidarbha has recorded a sharp rise in fire incidents, particularly during the dry season.

Large scale fires in Melghat and surrounding forests destroyed extensive tracts of vegetation. Investigations have pointed to human activity as a significant factor, including deliberate burning linked to non timber forest product collection. Despite regulations, enforcement has remained inconsistent.

Repeated fires hinder natural regeneration by killing young saplings and degrading soil quality. They also reduce undergrowth, eliminating cover and food sources for many animals. Field observations suggest that wildlife displacement following fires has contributed to increased movement of predators into agricultural areas.

The cycle of habitat loss, fire, and conflict illustrates how environmental pressures interact to shape conservation outcomes.

The record of wildlife conservation in Vidarbha over the past decade reflects both achievement and strain. Large carnivores have rebounded due to focused protection and monitoring.

At the same time, the decline of scavengers, the vulnerability of specialised species, and the steady erosion of habitat quality reveal unresolved weaknesses.

Conservation success in one dimension has introduced new challenges in others. Vidarbha’s experience shows that wildlife protection cannot be measured by population numbers alone.

It depends equally on the health of habitats, the safety of surrounding landscapes, and the capacity of conservation systems to adapt as ecological realities change.