Jaigir Village’s Move: A New Hope for Wildlife

“Look at our beautiful village,” says Dhanu Lohara. We’ve just arrived in Jaigir. This village lies deep in the sal forests of Palamu Tiger Reserve in Jharkhand. Dhanu, 56, is in a colorful T-shirt and dhoti. He’s sweaty from the long uphill walk. He’s tired but happy to be back.

The village is surrounded by green hills. It’s quiet and spread out. A few mud houses still stand. Others are broken or leveled by machines. Some residents remain. Many have left. They took their livestock and belongings down the narrow forest trail.

The Journey to Jaigir

Jaigir is in the Garu block of the Latehar district in Jharkhand. Getting here isn’t easy. People trek 15 km. They climb uphill for three hours. They pass trails through dense forests home to wild animals.

For generations, wild animals and humans have lived together in Jaigir. Now, residents are moving out. The forest department wants to clear the core areas for wildlife to thrive.

Palamu Tiger Reserve

Palamu Tiger Reserve is home to key species. These include mammals, birds, and medicinal herbs. “Keeping this zone free of settlements is vital. It helps these species breed and recover undisturbed,” says Kumar Ashish. He is the Deputy Director of the reserve.

After years of effort, 22 families from Jaigir have agreed to move. They belong to the Biroh, Lohara, and Oraon tribes. They have agreed to relocate to a new place.

Jaigir is the first village in the Palamu Tiger Reserve to move from the core area. Their new homes are in Polpol, a village in the neighboring Palamu district. Before moving, residents spent months building concrete houses. They prepared farmland about 75 km away from Jaigir.

Life in Jaigir

“This is the only way to reach here; there is no road,” explains Lohara. He looks back at his old home. His face shows nostalgia, relief, and quiet grief. “If someone got sick or a woman went into labor, we had to make a bamboo stretcher. We carried them down the hill. Many in the village have also died.”

Residents say they have lived sustainably here for decades. This was long before the Palamu Tiger Reserve existed. “Our family has lived here for three generations. We even have land records dating back to 1932. We used to get everything we needed from the forest,” says Lohara. He gathers wooden beams and other materials from his old house to reuse in the new one.

Coexistence, Until Now

The tiger reserve in Palamu was the first wildlife sanctuary where a tiger census was conducted. This was done using pugmark tracking in 1932. Palamu Tiger Reserve was one of India’s first nine tiger projects in 1973. It remains Jharkhand’s only reserve. It covers 1,306.79 sq km: 576 sq km core and 731 sq km buffer. The core is solely for wildlife. The buffer allows limited human use.

Over 5,000 families from 35 villages remain in the core area. This causes human-animal interactions and conflicts. By law, relocation must be voluntary. It needs full consent from Scheduled Tribes and other forest dwellers. “Relocation efforts began soon after PTR was created. Only a few families lived here then,” says Kumar Ashish.

“Now the population has grown. Every day brings crop losses due to boars and elephants, and close calls with tigers. With so much wildlife at stake, we urgently need this core to be a true refuge,” he adds.

“In Jaigir, we used to grow two paddy crops each year. There was never a water shortage. We met all our needs, including firewood, medicinal herbs, roots, and wild fruits from the forest,” says Sitan Birijya. He is among those who moved. He cultivated six acres of land. He admits, however, that life in Jaigir was far from easy.

“Wild elephants, boars, monkeys, and even parrots would regularly damage our fields,” says a 68-year-old farmer. “The forest department gave us crackers to drive wild animals away.” Several times, village residents have spotted tigers, he adds. Not one human in Jaigir has been harmed so far.

Hoping for better medical care and connectivity, all 22 families, some initially hesitant, finally agreed to relocate after years of discussion.

A New Chapter

Under the National Tiger Conservation Authority relocation scheme, there are two options. One is a one-time cash settlement of Rs 15 lakh. The other is a land-based package. It includes two hectares of farmland, a new home, and basic amenities. Every person over 18 is considered a separate unit. So, a single household can have three or four units.

“However, most villagers prefer getting land since they depend entirely on agriculture,” says Ashish. This has become difficult because each family now has multiple claimants. Allocating land to everyone is not feasible. “That is why we are negotiating with the villagers. Some will take land, and others may opt for the cash settlement,” he concludes.

The negotiations are still ongoing. The paperwork is pending. Local residents remain skeptical about which option they will ultimately choose.

“Though the process began in 2019, securing land took nearly five years. Initial talks with 40 families faltered within months. But steady negotiations have renewed hope,” adds Ashish.

“For the relocation, the forest department has acquired 330 acres in Palamu and 400 acres in Latehar district. One of our biggest challenges is that when we talk with villagers, we have no example to show them. This is because we have never done this before,” says Ashish.

“Jaigir was so remote that no one married their daughters there. It had no basic facilities. Now, we’re turning it into a model village to show other villagers exactly which services we can provide. We’ve already connected Jaigir to the power grid. Some house constructions are finished, and others are almost complete.”

Ashish also said that plans were underway to build a canal branch for irrigation. They will set up lift-irrigation systems and lay all-weather roads. Over the next two to three years, the forest department would support resettled families through skills training and job linkages. They will establish a primary school. Fifteen children would continue studying at a nearby village school. They will improve healthcare access via the Palamu district hospital. He added that they also intended to collaborate with the agriculture department. They aim to promote both rain-fed and irrigated farming. This is to ensure that the relocation benefits both wildlife and people.

Negotiations are going on with at least 13 villages, but progress has been slow. “Jaigir’s relocation will free nearly 100 sq km of forest. This is a significant step towards tiger conservation,” says Ashish.

Jaigir is one of the three villages – along with Latu and Kujurum – whose relocation will clear nearly half the reserve’s core area of human settlements. The remaining area is still occupied by 32 other villages.

In two other villages, Kujurum and Latu, about 60% of residents have agreed to relocate. 40% still resist. Once our new site is fully operational, we hope to bring them on board, too. “Our work isn’t just for wildlife,” says Ashish. “We’re committed to human development as well. We will stay alongside these families for at least two to three years. Only when they’re fully confident in their new lives will we step back,” he adds.

But not all villages are happy to move. Mongabay India spoke with residents of Kujurum and Latu. These are also in the core area of the Palamu Tiger Reserve.

“Our home is here, our fields are here, our livelihood is here. Now the government wants us to leave everything and go to Palamu,” says a resident of Latu. He speaks on condition of anonymity. “We will not give up our home at any cost.”

Hope for the Tiger

Across India, the tiger population has been growing at an annual rate of 6%. This is as per the All India Tiger Estimation of 2022. However, tiger numbers in Jharkhand have steadily declined. They went from 10 in 2010 to just one recorded in 2022. The Palamu Tiger Reserve has been called a “tiger-less tiger reserve” for years. This was until a lone tiger was photographed in 2022.

Kumar Ashish acknowledges the situation. “We don’t have a resident tiger in PTR. Most of the tigers we record are transient – coming in from Madhya Pradesh, mainly from Bandhavgarh. Madhya Pradesh has over 700 tigers now. Territorial fights among them are common. Every tiger needs its own space. When a weaker one is pushed out, it wanders into neighboring forests like ours.”

According to him, six tigers were captured on the Palamu Tiger Reserve’s camera traps last year. “But these are not permanent residents. Some stay for a month or two, others for a year, and then vanish. They weren’t born here; they are just passing through,” he explains.

For a tiger to establish a territory, two conditions must be met: prey base and minimal disturbance.

“Prey is low here, especially in Betla and adjoining ranges, due to human settlement and poaching. Besides, roads cut through core areas, and vehicular movement disturbs the wildlife,” he adds.

Another challenge is the lack of female tigers. “All six tigers spotted recently were males. Without females, there’s no chance of breeding. Plus, with limited prey and too much disturbance, they don’t stay. A male tiger instinctively searches for a mate. If it doesn’t find one, it moves on,” says Ashish.

Before 2010, tiger counting in Palamu Tiger Reserve was done using pugmark tracking. This often led to overestimation. “The same tiger might be counted multiple times. But since 2015-’16, camera traps have given us a clearer picture. We now accept that the reserve lacks a stable tiger population,” adds Kumar.

One tiger had stayed in Jaigir for nearly a year, but it’s no longer there. With the village now relocated, the forest department is hopeful. “The habitat is ideal. We’re installing camera traps. If a tiger returns and stays, it’ll validate our efforts.”

“Our aim isn’t just to capture an occasional photograph,” he adds. “We want tigers to reside here permanently.”

Last time, the forest department at Garu block that encompasses Jaigir, found one tiger in October 2024. “As of June 2025, we have over 18 camera traps active in the Garu area,” the official says. “Once a cast (a replica of a pugmark) is made, we update our records seasonally. This is typically done once a year. It helps monitor changes in tiger presence and movement patterns,” said Oraon. This combination of traditional tracking and modern camera technology helps ensure that Palamu Tiger Reserve’s tiger population is diligently observed and protected.

With Jaigir relocated and new monitoring systems in place, forest officials hope that Palamu can one day support a stable, breeding tiger population. This is a vital step toward reversing decades of decline. Meanwhile, the fate of the thousands of families still living in the reserve’s core hangs in the balance. They are asked to leave the land that has fed them for generations. They cling to their ancestral forests as the source of livelihood and identity.

“Officials call this just a forest, but this forest is our home. Our fathers and grandfathers have lived here,” says Sitan Birijya with a sense of disappointment.

This article was first published on Mongabay.