Chhattisgarh Forest Department has built enclosures at Barnawapara to accommodate the buffaloes from Assam for breeding before releasing their offspring in the Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve (USTR) in future.

 

 

Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (APCCF) S K Singh told The Hitavada that the wild buffalos from Manas National Park of the Assam will be kept for breeding under monitoring of experts at the Barnawapara, where they will be under round the clock monitoring.

 

 

The calves of these buffaloes will be then released into the Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve (USTR) in the future. Earlier it was reported that buffaloes will be kept at USTR, but the official has denied it. But, even that wasn’t consoling enough for the conservationists as the larger question of climate remains the same. Climate of Barnawapara is still way warmer than the Manas.

 

 

Temperature in Barnawapara can climb up to 45 degrees centigrade and it pretty much remains at the same level across the Chhattisgarh in the summer whereas the maximum temperature in Manas only goes up to 37 degree centigrade.

Besides, the grasslands of Manas and Barnawapara or USTR for that matter are vastly different. Some other problems specific to the Barnawapara is the encroachments in and around the Barnawapara and USTR. There are plenty of human settlements around these forests.