Critical evaluation of wildlife health initiatives in Melghat tiger reserve, India for formulation of a sustainable wildlife health plan

The relevance of wildlife health management in the recent times has gained importance owing to increased interactions between wild and domestic animals and greater chance of disease transmission between populations. Melghat... [ view full abstract ]

The relevance of wildlife health management in the recent times has gained importance owing to increased interactions between wild and domestic animals and greater chance of disease transmission between populations. Melghat Tiger Reserve located on the southern offshoot of the satpura Hill Range in Central India is home to a variety of fauna and flora. The Tiger reserve (2029 km2) includes the Gugamal National Park (361.28 km2), Melghat WLS (788.75km2), Wan WLS (211 km2), Ambabarwa, WLS (127.11 km2), and Narnala WLS (12.35 km2). Around 67 villages spread are interspersed across the landscape with approximate estimated human and livestock population as 29400 and 30000 respectively that depend upon the reserve for their existence. The study was carried out with the objective of evaluating the wildlife health initiatives being taken by the Forest Department in the last 5 years (2010-2015) at MTR and aimed at formulating a comprehensive health plan for the tiger reserve. Personal interviews, questionnaires surveys, field visits and detailed review of literature including scrutiny of official records formed basis for the study. Due to high anthropogenic pressures and the small size of protected area, the chances of interactions between populations and disease spread are high. The initiatives by the Reserve in ensuring health is limited to basic veterinary support with minimal preventive strategy. These strategies are limited to immunization for select infectious diseases and occasional de-worming for livestock. The reserve lacks the basic infrastructure and programs required for monitoring wildlife health. The small size of the reserve together with high interaction between wild animals and livestock has resulted in increased chances of disease spread between populations. This has necessitated the need for developing a sustainable Wildlife health plan addressing early detection for diseases, comprehensive monitoring and surveillance programs and proper preventive medicine initiatives.