Finally, the ban on night traffic on in Bandipur meets with success. Not a bad start at all with a tremendous lobby to effect this.
It is a new dawn for India's wildlife and things like this may just be the shot in the arm that wildlife needs.
The wildlife death toll on the two national highways that run through Bandipur are astounding:
91 mammal deaths;
56 snakes and other reptiles;
19 bonnet macaques;
11 spotted deer.
It remains to be proven if territories of big cats will increase with the ban on traffic, as they've now been given the luxury of a larger range and not coming into contact with traffic. Again, if the animals have been long conditioned to night traffic then there is a chance that they might use caution and abstinence compared to curiosity and evolution.
At this point it's premature to estimate the potential success of the ban in terms of increasing territory. But one thing is for sure, the many animal deaths due to run overs will indeed slow down. However we still need to protect our big cats from poachers and the ban on night traffic also provides the forest department with a two edged sword: with one they are protecting life, on the other they've got to be doubly cautious now.
On the whole this is a huge win for conservation.
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