Man-animal conflict still bedevils Manas National Park

Guwahati, July 12 (PTI) No longer called the World
Heritage Site in danger, the picturesque Manas National Park,
in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, home to many
endangered species like the Royal Bengal Tigers, is still
witnessing man-animal conflicts.
Environmentalists, who rejoiced over the UNESCO's recent
decision to remove the famed park from the list of World
Heritage Sites in danger, now express concern over the
increasing conflict between man and animal.
"Growing incidents of human-animal conflict have posed
a serious threat to the animals in the Manas biosphere," Dr
Pranjit Basumatary, member of the Wild Trust of India, said.
The park had suffered ravages in the 90s during the
height of insurgency by the then Bodo Security Force, later
rechristened as the National Democratic Front of Bodoland, and
the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), which had resulted
in the loss of infrastructure and animals.
The state-of-affairs had prompted the UNESCO to declare
the park as a World Heritage Site in danger.
But the subsequent restoration of peace and formation of
the Bodoland Territorial Council led to the revival of the
park and the World Heritage Committee noted that the universal
value for which the property was inscribed on the heritage
list was recovering from the damage suffered during the
unrest.
Dr Basumatary said ever since the creation of a transit
centre for rescue and rehabilitation of wildlife, as many as
450 schedule one wildlife species have been rescued and nearly
80 per cent of them successfully rehabilitated.