The picturesque Rajderwa Lake inside the wildlife sanctuary. Picture by Vishvendu Jaipuriar

Hazaribagh, Oct. 24: In the 1960s, people residing on the periphery of Hazaribagh National Park could often hear the roar of tigers.

However, the park now has been reduced to the status of a wildlife sanctuary and tigers have become extinct. Situated around 18km from the district headquarters, forest department officials claimed the 186.25sqkm sanctuary still holds quite a few attractions to woo the tourists.

One can still go on a nature trail, spot tiger traps, enjoy the beauty of Rajderwa Lake and Baghmara Dam, get a bird’s-eye view from the 11 watchtowers, explore the Dhamdhama cave and catch some rest at a resthouse.

All this apart from spotting animals like cheetals, sambhars, barking deer, hyenas, wild boars, porcupines, foxes and leopards.

The officials said after the department failed to vacate the core area of human habitation few years back, the national park was reduced to sanctuary status.

Most parts of the sanctuary were earlier known as Rajendra forest named after the rulers, the Padma Rajas. The British used to come for hunts to Rajendra forest. The continuous poaching took a toll on the animals’ numbers.

Negligence of the forest department as well as Maoist terror led to number of dwindling. Reports of snatching inside the sanctuary aggravated the situation.

Divisional forest officer (wildlife) Manish Arvind said the department had taken every initiative to change the condition.

The popular tiger trap in which a goat was tied to entice tigers still interests tourists.

Added to it are the boating facilities at Pokharia gate. The visitors’ book confirmed tourists from neighbouring states used to frequent the park in large numbers, but now it cries for immediate attention to regain its lost glory.