Tadoba villagers vent tiger attack ire on forest officers

A mob of angry villagers beat up two forest officers in Satara village on the periphery of the Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve (TATR) in Chandrapur district after an old and ailing tigress attacked a villager on Friday, seriously injuring him.

The villagers were angry that the officials allegedly did not do enough to drive the animal back into the forest in time. Officials said the villagers intimidated the tigress by getting too close to her.

The tigress, which has been ailing, and according to sources in the forest department, is partially blind, was sighted at around 8am in a pond on a farm belonging to Janardan Vaidya.

The news spread, and the villagers made a beeline to see the tigress. Intimidated, the animal attacked Vaidya when he went too close to drive it away, despite being warned against it by the villagers.

When range forest officer Umesh Dhotekar and a forest guard reached the village late afternoon, the angry villagers gave them a thrashing.

Vaidya, meanwhile, managed to free himself from the tigress' grip, but sustained serious injuries in the confrontation. Forest officials are now monitoring the situation and the movement of the tigress, who is still moving around the village.