FD ordered to tranquilise it; sub-adult tiger has 'attacked' people over 100 kms away from Yavatmal where an op is on to capture T1
Pugmarks of the tiger that killed two people near Amravati
An MLA from Amravati has demanded that a tiger allegedly responsible for killing two people in the past one week be shot dead. This tiger has allegedly attacked humans over 100 km away from Yavatmal where tigress T1 is roaming.
State Chief Wildlife Warden and Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF), Wildlife, A K Misra on Wednesday issued orders to tranquilise the tiger which is roaming in the fields in Dhamangaon near Amravati. In the past one week, there have been two human kills in the area allegedly by a sub-adult tiger.
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Congress MLA Yashomati Thakur from Teosa constituency in Amravati district had requested the forest department to shoot the animal, as there is a lot of tension in the area. A video of the MLA talking to a forest official had also gone viral on various WhatsApp groups in which she is heard talking about shooting and not tranquilising.
'Kill the tiger'
Talking over the phone to this reporter, Thakur said, "I am at a field in Raghunathpur village, and the tiger has killed a bovine here in the morning. Two people were killed by the tiger in the past one week. There is a yatra going on in one of the ashrams and locals in the area are afraid. So I would like to request that orders are given to shoot the tiger."
Last Friday one Rajendra Nimkar, 48, a resident of Mangrul village near Dhamangaon was allegedly killed by a tiger. A villager named Maoreshwar Walke of Aanhandingi village in Amravati district, was killed by a tiger on Monday.
'Capture the animal'
Expert veterinarian Dr Prayag H S, who is a senior PhD research scholar, KVAFSU-Bengaluru, and was part of the operation to capture T 1 said, "It's really unfortunate that two people were allegedly killed in a man-animal conflict incident in Amravati in the past one week. The need of the hour is to collect as much scientific evidence from the scene of the kills so that the right animal is captured. The local public representatives should not demand orders for eliminating the tiger because while it is confirmed that a carnivore has killed two people, the question is whether it was a leopard or tiger, as both these big cats exist in the area."
He also supported the FD's order of tranquilising the big cat. "The big cats will be able to peacefully exist only if they have the goodwill of local communities. So the decision of the forest department to capture the animal is right, because if it is not done, there are high chances of retaliatory killings which can be dangerous not just for tigers but other carnivores roaming in the area including leopards. Experts from wildlife forensics need to be involved, because in near future, man-animal conflict is going to be a bigger issue as already the population of big cats is increasing but there is habitat degradation which is forcing them close to human settlements," he said.
It is said that the tiger allegedly responsible for killing two people had travelled over 200 kms and come to Amravati from Chandrapur Super Thermal Power Station (CSTPS). The tiger is one of four cubs that dispersed from CSTPS.
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