Andhra Pradesh forest dept celebrates Global Tiger Day in SV Zoo Park at Tirupati
Tirupati, July 29: State Environment and Forests Minister Shri Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy said that our state has made significant progress in tiger conservation and steps are being taken to establish a corridor connecting Seshachalam and Nallamala sanctuaries. He was the chief guest at the Global Tiger Day celebrations at SV Zoo Park this morning.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said that a decision was taken in the Russian conference to protect tigers and since then Global Tiger Day is being celebrated on July 29 every year. He said that there were 45 tigers in 2010, which has doubled to more than 80 today. He said that due to the increase of tigers, those who loot the forest will be afraid.
He said that 12 years ago when he was the Forest Minister, a small lab in Srisailam used to count tigers on the basis of fingerprints, but now there are cameras like still, video and drones to count them scientifically.
He said that there are no big tigers in Seshachalam sanctuary today, but the records say that the British hunted at the guest house at Mamandur, so by establishing a corridor connecting Nallamala and Seshachalam sanctuaries, the big tigers in Nallamala can come here.
He said that the Srisailam Nagarjunasagar Tiger Zone is now 8 lakh acres and the state Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has made proposals to increase the zone by another 5 lakh acres. He said that this zone will stand in a prominent position only in Anati’s time. He thanked all those who participated in forest conservation. NSTR book and poster were unveiled.
Certificates of appreciation were presented to the students who excelled in various competitions and to the forest officials who excelled in forest conservation.
Before that, Bajaj battery scooters, which were newly offered to tourists, were flagged off at SV Zoo Park. Later, the weapon stalls used by the forest officials were inspected.
Chandragiri MPP Mr. Mohit Reddy, PCCF Mr. Madhusudhan Reddy, Additional PCCF Mr. Shantipriya Pandey, CCF Mr. Nageswara Rao, Zoo Park Curator Mr. C. Selvam, State Silviculturalist Ms. Yashoda Bhai, Tirupati DFO Mr. Satish Reddy, students, forest officials, staff and others participated.
