Uttarakhand Wildlife dept defends killing of Tiger

Uttarakhand Wildlife dept defends killing of Tiger
Deepti Saxena

Dehra Dun, Jan 30 (PTI) Under attack from various quarters for killing a tiger in the Corbett tiger reserve, the Uttarakhand Wildlife Department today strongly defended its action, saying the big cat was a "man-eater" which killed at least four persons.

The tiger was shot dead at Kosi river range area of the park on Thursday last on suspicion of killing a 27-year-old man after agitating villagers demanded immediate elimination of the feline.

Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has ordered a probe into the killing of the tiger, while Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh is understood to have sought a report from the state government on the incident.

"We have evidences like old bullet wounds to prove that it was the same tiger which killed four persons in Sunderkhal area of the Corbett tiger reserve," S K Chandola, Chief Wildlife Warden, Uttarakhand, said.

He was responding to criticism from various quarters that the department acted in haste to kill the tiger, which had let loose a reign of terror in the area.

BJP MP Tarun Vijay had also condemned the incident and asked the state government to create a "buffer zone" to facilitate the free movement of big cats.

"When the first time tiger was shot on Jan 11, we presumed that it was a tigress due to its pug marks and broad hind portion. But the postmortem report found the old bullet wound of January 11 in the tiger killed on January 27," he told PTI.

This clearly indicates it was the same tiger, he said, adding that human flesh has been found in the stomach of the tiger, which was killed.

In addition to this, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in its report has stated that the blood samples of the wounded tiger collected on January 11 were of a male tiger and not of the tigress, he said.

Chandola also said the department followed all the guidelines of the Wildlife Protection Act (1972) while declaring an animal as man-eater.

"We strictly acted under the section 11 of the wildlife protection act of 1972 which clearly gives mandate to the chief wildlife warden to declare an animal as man-eater in case it becomes dangerous for the human beings," Chandola said. (More) PTI DPT

Link - http://news.in.msn.com/national/arti...mentid=4863570

There always is a foul play in the man-eater episodes. The poor animal eventually is paying its price.
With more and more encroachments mushrooming in the forests, the large mammals are losing out. In the past many well planned murder cases were falsely termed as kills made by tigers...