bijnordehradun water crisis and the forest fires that have wreaked havoc in uttarakhand over the past two weeks are now driving animals from the hill state into neighbouring uttar pradeshs amangarh tiger reserve atr forest department officials believe that this could lead to conflict among animals in the forest which could push them towards human habitats animal movement between amangarh tiger reserve in bijnor district and adjoining corbett tiger reserve home to 215 tigers is not unusual but this time the migration seems to be on a largescale owing to forest fires and scarcity of water according to officials of the up forest department the officials said that forest staff patrolling the reserve has observed an increase in the number of animals animals in forests in uttarakhand are fighting scorching heat and water scarcity due to low winter rainfall the forest fires have compounded the problem this year talking to toi dfo bijnor saleel kumar shukla said the number of animals in amangarh has increased as sufficient food and water for animals is available here there are many water holes and rivers in the forest area there is no fire in amangarh tiger reserve so it is a safe zone for wildlife since atr is spread over a small area approximately 9500 hectares up forest department is concerned that the influx of animals may lead to wildlife conflicts atr boasts of a population of 13 tigers 31 elephants and 15 bears besides other species such as deer leopards neelgai monkeys and baboons a battle for territory and resources among animals in amangarh may push out some creatures towards human habitats villages that lie in proximity to amangarh are already tense dhirendra chauhan a resident of harrawala village in bijnor said in the past few days sightings of elephants and leopards has increased at times animals have been seen on the roads near the village we are afraid however uttarakhand forest officials have denied the reports of animals from the state moving to bijnor as they claim that there are no fires raging in ctr and there is sufficient water for animals in the protected area dhanajay mohan chief conservator of forests uttarakhand said these reports are completely baseless there is not much possibility of wild animals moving from corbett to amangarh for water and to avoid fire they would not go to amangarh when water bodies in corbett are being replenished corbett director sameer sinha added there is no fire in corbett now all blazes have been controlled we have also stored water in water holes in the forest so there is no dearth of water which would make animals move towards amangarh in april around 50 hectares in corbett tiger reserve ctr were destroyed in just three days in three fires the incident had raised fears that it may have led to wildlife displacement meanwhile uttarakhands chief wildlife warden dvs khati has claimed that no wildlife casualty has been reported due to the forest fires in the