Panaji: Liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Tuesday said
he will take up the cause of tribals living in Biligiri Ranga
Hills in Karnataka, who fear being displaced as there are
plans to declare the forest as a tiger reserve.
Mallya, a Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka, said it is the
tribals who are guarding the tigers from poaching and other
dangers.
"If they are displaced, there will be no protection for
tigers...The tribals claim they have been co-existing with the
big cats for centuries," he said on the sidelines of IFFI
here.
Moves are afoot to declare Biligiri Ranga Hills wildlife
sanctuary in Karnataka as a tiger reserve that will force
displacement of traditional dwellers from the forest area
located in Yedulndur taluka.
He said he will raise the issue in the Rajya Sabha.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, November 30, 2010, 21:28