LUCKNOW: Forest officials tracking a man-mauling tiger in Pilibhit and Shahjahanpur got some success when they managed to track its movements on Tuesday. The elusive big cat has been localised in Bilandapur forest area in Khutar range of Shahjahanpur forest division. It had killed a goat which was tied as a bait on Monday. A team of experts is still camping in the area to tranquillise and trap the tiger. Officials are of the opinion that the tiger could be moving within the same patch now -- in and out of Khutar and Deoria ranges as both are adjacent.
The Project Tiger team had also come visiting the area. The team had suggested to translocate the tiger to Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. But, officials who are part of the combing operation are only focussing on locating the tiger first. "It all can be decided only after we trap the tiger," said one of the officials. The constant rain and flood in the area has made combing difficult. On September 2, experts had fired a dart at the big cat but it missed the tiger by a whisker. The dart could tranquillise the big cats within two minutes, experts said. At least for 20 minutes after being hit by a dart, tiger is completely inactive. It can be trapped and tranquillised within that time.
In this case, had the dart hit the tiger, it would have been found in an inactive state in Bilandapur forest. The tiger has killed and partially eaten eight humans since May 3 in Deoria and Shahjahanpur divisions. Though there have been no more human kills in the area, the orders of the chief wildlife warden to tranquillise and capture the tiger still stand. None of the human killings have happened outside forest areas. The forest officials, therefore, have not branded the tiger a `man-eater'. The experts and officials have been able to know of the tiger only through pugmarks and camera-trappings. The tiger could be sub-adult but without any physical deformity or illness to have made him go for human kills rather than its natural prey.
When contacted, VK Singh, DFO, Pilibhit said, "we are still maintaining vigil in Deoria range". Nine teams of forest staff still guard the area. The cameras installed in Deoria range have not been removed from the place.
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