The forest department plans to open a range forest office to conserve Bhimgad reserve forest in Khanapur taluk of the district, which was declared a wildlife sanctuary' last year by the ministry of environment and forests.
Bhimgad forest is spread on 19,042.50 hectares in the core zone of Western Ghats. The area is free from biotic disturbances and forestry operations. However, poaching and smuggling continues in this area.
This forest is home to tigers, leopards, Indian gaur (bison), sloth bear, sambar, barking deer, cheetah, wild dogs, king cobra and variety of other mammals and reptiles.
Poachers and smugglers enter the forest easily from Krishnapur village area on the Goa route. In order to control this, the department plans to open the range office here.
Speaking to STOI, Ambadi Madhav, district conservator of forests, said the proposal has been sent to the forest department in the state and the Centre. A K Varma, state principal chief conservator of forest, who visited Belgaum a few months ago promised to sanction a range office for Bhimgad sanctuary at the earliest, by availing approval from the Centre. Varma was in Belgaum as DCF from 1984-87. "There are also plans to create awareness on the importance of Bhimgad wildlife sanctuary to villagers, who often collude with poachers and get involved in smuggling for a petty amount, without knowing the value of the animals and plants", the DCF said.
With the range office in the area, there would be more guards to man the forest.
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