With the rising number of tigers in the Male Mahadeshwara Hills (M.M. Hills) Wildlife Sanctuary, Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre on Tuesday instructed senior forest department officials to collect feedback from the local population to declare the forest area a tiger reserve.Chairing a meeting with senior officials of the department, he instructed them to initiate the process of declaring M.M. Hills a forest area. The Minister directed them to conduct a meeting with all stakeholders on this issue and submit a proposal.Recently an adult tigress and its four cubs died due to poisoning at the M.M. Hills Wildlife Sanctuary.Five reservesAt present, there are five tiger reserves in Karnataka — Bandipur, Nagarahole, Biligiri Ranganthaswamy Temple (BRT), Bhadra, and Kali.Mr. Khandre said officials should take all necessary precautionary measures to control the unnatural death of wildlife in the State and to prevent the loss of human lives due to wild animal attacks.He said that officers and staff in the respective zones be assigned responsibilities. He called for establishing a centralised command center to monitor the movement of wild animals and poachers.Vast area“The State has about 40 thousand square kilometers of forest area, which is difficult to physically guard. In this regard, necessary steps should be taken to establish a centralised command center to monitor the movement of wild animals and poachers. Based on the footage from the CCTV images efforts should be undertaken to curb wildlife poaching and forest encroachment, and illegal cutting of trees,” he said.He also instructed officials to start the recruitment process for filling up vacant posts in the department and to submit proposals for the purchase of vehicles and equipment required for forest and wildlife conservation.Mr. Khandre called on forest officers to maintain friendly relations with the local population living in the forest fringes.Published - July 08, 2025 08:51 pm IST