Hyderabad shikari called upon to tackle Lucknow tiger 'menace'

[Mrudul Godbole]

I read this article in the TOI and was surprised to read that it said tiger 'Menace'..

Hyderabad shikari called upon to tackle Lucknow tiger menace
TNN Feb 10, 2012, 02.36AM IST

HYDERABAD: The tiger menace has returned to Awadh Forest Division dangerously close to Lucknow and licensed shikari Nawab Shafath Ali Khan from the city has been invited by the authorities to tackle the menace. With the tiger on the prowl at the Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture (CISH) campus, barely 15km from the Lucknow, for more than a month, residents have been living in fear. All attempts by the Awadh Forest division and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) to track and tranquillise the big cat have been in vain.

The four-year-old tiger got into the campus from Pilibhit forest, near river Gomti running from the forest to Lucknow. On either side of the river is thick forest like vegetation. The tiger entered the vegetation and travelled along the river. Unable to deviate, it reached the CISH campus. According to Khan, the forest department and WTI put together a six-member team to tranquillise the tiger so that it could be released back into its natural habitat. After 35 days, on February 7, the team of trackers used a buffalo calf as bait to lure the tiger. After realising that they had failed, the unsuspecting team went to release the calf only to be charged by the tiger. Khan received an invitation from Ashok Mishra, DFO Awadh Forest Division, on February 8 to tranquillise the animal. When contacted, DFO Ashok Mishra confirmed that Khan has indeed been invited by the Awadh Forest Department and will be leaving for Lucknow to tranquillise the tiger on February 10 at 10 am.

"The CISH campus forest abuts the Lucknow-Haridwar highway. The tigeris trapped because it is unable to cross the highway into the proper forest due to heavy traffic," said Khan, who resides in Bazaar Guard area. Tigers move from one place to another with the change of season and the forest department is afraid that the wild cat might enter Lucknow anytime, he added. Tigers always charge towards the shooter when they are tranquillised. As a precautionary measure and for safety of his team, Khan will carry a .458 Winchester Magnum which has enough stopping power to take on a charging tiger in its tracks and a range of 100 metres. "The forest department doesn't have powerful weapons to tackle man-eaters or rogue elephants," he noted, adding this is the first time that a private individual has been called by the forest department to tranquilise the national animal.

On February 24, 2009, Khan was invited by the Awadh Forest division to put down a tigress which turned man-eater and had killed five people and mauled many more. The tigress had travelled 350 km from Pilibheet to Faizabad and terrorised farmers.

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Tigers are fighting a losing battle anywhere and everywhere.

I find that I have delightfully noted on 09/08/2011 that NTCA has accorded,in principle, approval for SIX tiger habitats of which PILIBHIT is one, to be formally notified as Tiger Reserves.

SIX other tiger habitats have also been recommended to the states by NTCA for submission of detailed proposal to centre.

Even after ,in principle, approval by NTCA,there are certain formalities to be completed/agreement to be signed between the state and centre before the official notification as Tiger Reserve.

Six months had since elaped and Pilibhit tigers remain where they were before as total number of Tiger Reserves still remain at 39 only.May be the election in the state has delayed the process to some extent.

We can only hope that the centre and the state will expedite the process so that Pilibhit is finally notified as a Tiger Reserve.

SaktiWild

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Lets see what the Akhilesh Yadav Government does. I think we should now draft a representation and send it to him.

I am happy that the tiger has not been killed despite efforts by shikaris and the forest department. I am sure with a little bit more vegetation, and prey base, the tiger population can increase.