An elusive tiger has been giving sleepless nights to officers of the UP Forest Department (UPFD) for almost two months now.
An elusive tiger has been giving sleepless nights to officers of the UP Forest Department (UPFD) for almost two months now.
The four-year-old tiger, is roaming about 15 kms from the state capital. Local villagers have seen the tiger, who is behind many killings, almost every other day. His pug marks show that he is on the prowl in the area.
Villagers have said that the beast is an evil spirit and that preparations are on to organise a havan to exorcise it. There are even stories about the tiger searching for its estranged soul mate. Fearing the tiger, many did not venture out to vote on election day last Sunday.
The tiger was first seen in the first week of January in Hardoi, over a 100kms away. UPFD officials say the tiger has strayed from its habitat in South Kheri, about 200 kms from Lucknow.
In their bid to track down the elusive big cat, forest officials brought in a cow elephant. Machans were arranged to keep night vigil and a professional ‘shikari’ had been called in from Hyderabad to tranquilise him. Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) experts were involved in the search operation. Cages and cameras were put up at strategic points to capture him. Baits were set many times. But the tiger still managed to escape from getting caught.
“It’s a very cunning cat,” says UP Chief Wildlife Warden Mohd Ahsan. “The biggest difficulty is that it is holed up in an area which is ideal for the big cat,” he adds. The tiger has been roaming inside the 400-acre farm of the Central Subtropical Horticulture Institute of the Union Agriculture Ministry at Rahmankheda adjacent to Lucknow.
“This area has dense forest cover, water bodies and natural prey which is just perfect for the tiger. The almost negligible human presence here makes it even better,” he says.
“The only achievement we can claim till now is that we have managed to confine the tiger to this area, and there has been no conflict with the local villagers,” he adds, sounding disappointed.
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