The fourth human kill by a big cat on Monday night, within the same Sarapdully range of Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand within a span of two months, has raised questions about the lapses on the part of the forest department.
The shooters pressed into service by the department fired eight rounds on Tuesday night to kill the suspected big cat. However, they had failed to track any wounded big cat or its carcass till the filing of the report.
Such critical cases of man-animal conflict come at a time when the oldest tiger reserve of the country is getting ready to observe the forthcoming platinum jubilee celebrations.
The fourth incident of human kill — about 100 metres away from the Garjiya Forest Chowki — has occurred even as the forest department is on a high alert, after three recent human kills by a suspected tigress from nearby territory.
Talking to The Pioneer, Chief Wildlife Warden S Chandola pointed out, “The nature of the kill in the latest case of 60-year-old Shanti Devi is different from the three previous ones, considering that the big cat has not preyed upon it.”
“Hence, it may not be the same tigress as pointed out earlier. A half-eaten carcass of a sambar has been found in the vicinity of the woman’s body, raising possibilities that the woman had ventured into the forest and may have accidentally run into the predator,” he added.
Chandola had issued terminating orders for the tigress on December 30 and since then, the department has laid traps and dispatched hunters to kill the big cat on the prowl.
According to sources, the shooters — who were waiting on the wings near the kills — fired at a big cat that had supposedly arrived near the half-eaten sambar kill. However, even if blood stains have been found in the vicinity, the department could not find any carcass of the tiger. The search would be made on Wednesday morning.
“We had sent our trained shooter Lakhpat Singh Rawat and others, to shoot the animal,” said Anil Baluni, vice-chairman of Environment & Forest advisory committee, Uttarakhand, adding that unrest among villagers was mounting.
Experts have raised serious questions in the wake of the incident. “Why was the woman allowed within the forest in such a critical situation? How was the department caught unawares even when the incident occurred so close to the forest chowki? Where were the members of Eco Development Committee of Dhikuli village (of which Garjiya is an extension) when the woman walked into the forest?” asked one.
Baluni says, “It is difficult to stop the entry of the villagers in the forest as it is their sustainable source of livelihood.” If pressure is mounted to prevent their entry, then there is the threat of tigers getting poisoned. Hence, it is a very difficult balance that needs to be maintained, he felt.
Experts further felt that it was indeed ironical that when the reserve is going to spend nearly Rs 5 crore on its platinum jubilee celebrations, why has it not been able to conduct DNA mapping of the tigers, which could have helped in their proper identification.
The shooters pressed into service by the department fired eight rounds on Tuesday night to kill the suspected big cat. However, they had failed to track any wounded big cat or its carcass till the filing of the report.
Such critical cases of man-animal conflict come at a time when the oldest tiger reserve of the country is getting ready to observe the forthcoming platinum jubilee celebrations.
The fourth incident of human kill — about 100 metres away from the Garjiya Forest Chowki — has occurred even as the forest department is on a high alert, after three recent human kills by a suspected tigress from nearby territory.
Talking to The Pioneer, Chief Wildlife Warden S Chandola pointed out, “The nature of the kill in the latest case of 60-year-old Shanti Devi is different from the three previous ones, considering that the big cat has not preyed upon it.”
“Hence, it may not be the same tigress as pointed out earlier. A half-eaten carcass of a sambar has been found in the vicinity of the woman’s body, raising possibilities that the woman had ventured into the forest and may have accidentally run into the predator,” he added.
Chandola had issued terminating orders for the tigress on December 30 and since then, the department has laid traps and dispatched hunters to kill the big cat on the prowl.
According to sources, the shooters — who were waiting on the wings near the kills — fired at a big cat that had supposedly arrived near the half-eaten sambar kill. However, even if blood stains have been found in the vicinity, the department could not find any carcass of the tiger. The search would be made on Wednesday morning.
“We had sent our trained shooter Lakhpat Singh Rawat and others, to shoot the animal,” said Anil Baluni, vice-chairman of Environment & Forest advisory committee, Uttarakhand, adding that unrest among villagers was mounting.
Experts have raised serious questions in the wake of the incident. “Why was the woman allowed within the forest in such a critical situation? How was the department caught unawares even when the incident occurred so close to the forest chowki? Where were the members of Eco Development Committee of Dhikuli village (of which Garjiya is an extension) when the woman walked into the forest?” asked one.
Baluni says, “It is difficult to stop the entry of the villagers in the forest as it is their sustainable source of livelihood.” If pressure is mounted to prevent their entry, then there is the threat of tigers getting poisoned. Hence, it is a very difficult balance that needs to be maintained, he felt.
Experts further felt that it was indeed ironical that when the reserve is going to spend nearly Rs 5 crore on its platinum jubilee celebrations, why has it not been able to conduct DNA mapping of the tigers, which could have helped in their proper identification.
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