A severe manpower crunch and the mushrooming of tourist night-stay facilities in the core area have emerged as major concerns at Karnataka’s Bandipur Tiger Reserve, with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) flagging a 63.81% vacancy rate across sanctioned posts.The Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF), tasked with preventing poaching, is operating at only about 16 per cent of its sanctioned strength.In its supervisory report, shared with The Tribune under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the NTCA warned that staff shortages, particularly in frontline protection cadres, could undermine surveillance, patrolling and anti-poaching operations. It also called for advance planning to gradually phase out tourist night-stay facilities from the reserve’s core area and relocate them to suitable locations outside the tiger reserve.The report, prepared by Shivakumar C.M., Inspector General of Forests, NTCA, Regional Office, Bengaluru, stated that against a sanctioned strength of 630 posts, only 228 personnel were in position, leaving 402 posts vacant and resulting in an overall vacancy rate of 63.81%.“The vacancy position is a matter of serious concern, particularly in the frontline protection cadres. The Forest Watcher cadre, which forms the backbone of ground-level protection, patrolling and surveillance, has only 12 personnel in position against a sanctioned strength of 206, reflecting an alarming vacancy rate of 94.17%. Similarly, the Beat Forester cadre has a vacancy of 56.59%, which is likely to adversely affect effective protection, habitat management and field supervision,” the report said.The Forest Watcher cadre faces the steepest shortage, with just 12 personnel in position against 206 sanctioned posts. The report said the shortage in frontline cadres was a matter of serious concern, given their role in protection, surveillance and field-level management.Flagging another conservation concern, the NTCA said a considerable number of tourist night-stay facilities were located within the reserve’s core area. It called for advance planning to shift these facilities outside the tiger reserve in line with the Supreme Court’s directions and conservation requirements.“In line with the directions of the Supreme Court and conservation requirements, there is a need for advance planning to gradually phase out such facilities from the Core area and relocate them to suitable locations outside the tiger reserve,” it said.The report also highlighted the impact of the shortage on the STPF, whose operational effectiveness and ability to function as a dedicated force for wildlife protection and anti-poaching operations have been considerably constrained.Karnataka was among the first States to receive approval for the establishment of the STPF in 2011. However, the NTCA said persistent manpower shortages had prevented the force from fully achieving its intended objective of providing professionally trained and adequately equipped personnel dedicated to tiger protection.“However, the intended objective of creating a professionally trained, adequately equipped and dedicated tiger protection force has not been fully realized due to persistent manpower shortages. The state government should take immediate steps to fill the vacant STPF posts so as to restore its operational capacity and further strengthen protection and law enforcement in the Tiger Reserve,” it said.