Fire in Bandipur Tiger Reserve Destroys Thousands of Acres of Forest Land
Fire in Bandipur Tiger Reserve Destroys Thousands of Acres of Forest Land. The fire, which was first noticed around 3.30 am on Saturday, spread rapidly due to strong winds.
In the wake of the wildfire, the Safari at the Tiger Reserve in Bandipur has been cancelled by authorities as the safari zone has been destroyed in the disaster. The fire has in fact destroyed over 8,000 acres of Bandipur forest area except the areas considered to be critical tiger habitat. The forest is spread over 2.16 lakh acres. The fire also killed hundreds of animal species including snakes, rabbits, lizards and also turned thousands of trees into ashes.
The tourism area of the reserve had been destroyed and the fire had spread to its border with Kerala’s Wayanad wildlife sanctuary.
The fire is spreading from different parts of the reserve also raises suspicion on whether it was an act of sabotage.
Hundreds of forest department officials along with local volunteers have been trying to douse the fire.
