As a tiger at the Valmikinagar forest in Champaran district of Bihar was reportedly killed by the poachers on Saturday, the Forest Department mandarins are working out a plan on how to conserve the Schedule One animal which is on the verge of extinction.

In a bid to improve the demographic status of tigers, India and Nepal have decided to open their border for the big cats. Under the scheme initially the Valmikinagar forest in Bihar will be linked to Chitwan forest area in Nepal, which will give tigers a much wider space, crucial to improve their procreation capacity.

“Creation of extra territories through landscaping around sanctuaries has been proposed for the healthy growth of tigers,” said a senior official of the Tiger Project Regulatory Authority. “Considering the fact that Valmikinagar and Chitwan forests are on the two sides of India and Nepal, plan is afoot to join the territories and promote cross-border exchange of animals,” he added.

As per the survey of the Indian Wildlife Institute, there are 33 tigers at Valmikinagar forest. “Each tiger needs 40 square kilometre to hang around and does not allow other animals to enter its territory. But as most of the sanctuary borders are heavily populated, it causes great pressure for the big cats in case they move to the periphery,” said Forest Secretary in Bihar, Sishir Sinha.

Against this backdrop, the collar-chip project at Valmikinagar-Chitwan will help tigers on both sides to overcome the problem of ‘confinement to a stand-alone.’

According to the National Council for Forest Research (NCFR) report, the limited area sanctuary was affecting the procreation capacities of tigers and the change of location would help improve their productivity.

Meanwhile, Rameshwar Parit, the fire guard of sector 15 of Madanpur forest range under Valmikinagar Tiger Project was mowed down by a big cat early this week near Bagaha.