Huge fire breaks out at tiger reserve in India’s Rajasthan

Experts fear tigers in the vicinity of the massive fire could suffocate due to smoke

File photo: A Royal Bengal Tiger walks through a jungle clearing in Kaziranga National Park, some 280kms east of Guwahati, India, 21 December 2014 (AFP via Getty Images)

Authorities are racing to contain a massive fire at a tiger reserve in India’s western Rajasthan state that has been raging for over a day and spread to an area of more than 10 sq km — the size of roughly 1,800 football fields.

A forest official confirmed news of the fire at the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan’s Alwar district on Monday evening, and experts fear smoke from the fire could suffocate tigers in the vicinity. The reserve is home to more than 20 tigers.

Two Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters sprayed hundreds of litres of water on the affected area on Tuesday. Media reports said the helicopters were getting water from the Siliserh lake, about 43km from the reserve.

“Two Mi-17 V5 helicopters after the Alwar district administration sent an SOS to help control the fire which had spread over large areas in Sariska,” the IAF said in a statement.

“The IAF has deployed two Mi-17 V5 helicopters for Bambi bucket ops. The operations are ongoing,” the statement added.

Bambi buckets are special buckets used by helicopters to help douse large fires.

Forest officials said about 150 - 200 people, including forest staff, are helping douse the fire that has engulfed the forest.

“Villagers residing in the periphery of the fire-affected area have been asked to move to safety,” a forest official was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, according to police.

A massive fire broke out at India’s Sariska Tiger Reserve on Monday evening. Screengrab (One India Hindi / YouTube)

The fire also poses a threat to the territory of a tigress codenamed ST-17, that recently gave birth to two cubs.

The movement of the reserve’s tigers has been affected because of the massive fire, officials said.

India accounts for at least 70 per cent of the world’s tiger population, according to recent estimates.

There were an estimated 2,967 tigers in the country in 2018, according to the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

As per the latest data from National Tiger Conservation Authority, 126 tigers had died across the country last year — the greatest number of annual deaths recorded in a decade.

In 2016, 121 tiger deaths were recorded in the Indian forests.