Global glare on Sariska

JAIPUR: In what could be termed as the first international focus on Sariska after the translocation of the tigers last year, representatives of six SAARC countries arrived at the tiger reserve on Tuesday.
According to officials, while Afghanistan was represented by Mustafa Zahid, the grandson of former king Mohammed Zahir Shah, the environment minister of Maldives Md Aslam, a minister from Nepal, Thakur Prasad Sharma, have also arrived.Sri Lanka is being represented by its DG, Forest, S Fernando, while Pakistan's delegate is the secretary of the federal government, Saman Naseri. Also present are delegates from Bhutan.
Soon after their arrival at the Sariska Palace, the evening session began with the presentation of a report on Project Tiger in India by the director of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Rajesh Gopal.
This was followed by a short film on translocation of tigers from the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve to Sariska. "The delegates showed keen interest in the conservation efforts being made in India. They were impressed by Indian culture which was showcased in a programme in the evening," officials said.
Speaking over the phone from Sariska, the DG, forest, Sri Lanka, S Fernando, said, "It is really amazing to see the kind of conservation work done in India. I have been trained at Dehradun along with the chief wildlife warden of Rajasthan, R N Mehrotra, but at that time the tiger count was no so large as it is now.
"Unfortunately, we do not have tigers in Sri Lanka though we have leopards. In fact, our problem is elephants whose numbers have swelled to 7,000. There is a big man-animal conflict that we have to live with. On an average, every year about 100 elephants die as compared to 50 human beings. But definitely there are lessons to be leant from the conservation being done here," he said.
On Wednesday, the delegates will be taken for a ride inside the tiger reserve.