Karnataka villagers come to trapped tigeress’ rescue

[Mrudul Godbole]

Karnataka villagers come to trapped tigeress’ rescue
TNN | Dec 6, 2012, 12.39 AM IST

NEW DELHI: A tiger or leopard accidentally trapped near human settlements often meets a violent end. Invariably, raging mobs gather to attack the animal, leading to human casualties. But what happened in village Nidugumba, about 1.2km away from the edge of Karnataka's Nagarahole National Park, could well be cited as a model response in such situations.

On Tuesday morning, residents of the village in Kodagu district were surprised to find a young tigress whose left paw was snagged in a barbed wire fence of a coffee estate. According to NGO Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the coffee planter, Sullimada Muthanna, as well as other villagers prevented any mobbing and harassing of the struggling tiger.

The forest staff of Nagarahole was promptly informed. Responding swiftly, a team of forest rangers, staff and veterinarians, led by field director Basavaraj Hosmath and deputy director Kumar Pushkar took control of the situation. WSC said the villagers cooperated with the forest team, allowing them to function professionally.

The tigress was tranquilized, then untangled from the fence and transported to the Mysore Zoo. Experts at the zoo will be examining the animal's injuries, and assessing her age and health status so that an informed decision can be made about her future.

Nagarahole has a high tiger density of around 10-12 animals per 100 sq km. WCS said animals from the national park stray out due to competition with other members of their species.

"Such incidents of tigers straying into villages are bound to happen around wildlife parks such as Nagarahole, Bandhavgarh or Corbett, which have had success in tiger conservation. In a way, these are signs of success. But people need to be educated on how to deal with these situations. Nidugumba village has shown the way," said K Ullas Karanth, director of science (Asia), WCS.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Good to hear that one tiger has been rescued. Most of the times people crowd around a tiger and that results in increasing its stress. People need to be controlled. There is a need for clamping Section 144 of the IPC in such conditions. Unfortunately, neither the police department comes to help the Forest Department, nor the forest department thinks it fit to take the help. Even when the police department is informed, they too don't consider this a fit case for Section 144. Except for situations when our elected leaders are facing protests and in cases of riots they use this provision.