Man-eater strikes in Pilibhit again

A man-eater, which has been on the prowl in and around the jungles of Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, made its sixth kill in a village of the district.

Redawati Devi, 55, fell victim to the big cat when she stepped into the woods in search of firewood required for her daily chores.

Parts of her badly mauled and half-devoured body were recovered after an extensive hunt by a team of wildlife officials late Tuesday.

Even though wildlife officials admit that Redawati Devi was the sixth victim of a tiger attack in the past four months, they said they were still not in a position to declare the big cat as a 'man-eater'.

State chief wild life conservator B.K. Patnaik told IANS: 'We cannot affirm that the tiger has turned into a man-eater unless we have confirmation that this was the same animal that has been striking in this vicinity over the past few months.'

'Rain and slush have made it impossible for our teams to get a clear picture of the pug-marks of the animal. However, we have managed to collect some hair of the tiger from the site where it fed on its victim; and this hair would be sent for DNA analysis so that it could be matched with previous records.'

Prima facie, he suspects that the attacking animal was a young tiger who should not have any reason to turn man-eater.

'Tigers turn into man-eaters largely on account of old-age or injury, which impairs their capacity to get hold of their natural prey' he said.

'Considering that this one appears to be a young animal, we have to find out why it has been attacking human beings, while we also need to confirm whether there is only one or more than one tiger active in the area,' he added.

Meanwhile, according to official records available with wildlife authorities, each of the six kills over the past four months were made within a radius of four km. While the first one was reported May 3, it was followed by more kills June 7, June 23, July 25, July 27 and the latest one Tuesday.

http://sify.com/news/man-eater-strikes-in-pilibhit-again-news-national-kilpOccjjgc.html

To prevent tiger attacks, Forest dept to arrest trespassers in reserved areas of Pilibhit

Following incidents of tiger attacks at Pilibhit district’s Deoria range in western Uttar Pradesh, the Forest department has issued instructions to enforce the Trespass Act, 1963 to ensure that no villagers enter the reserved forest area. According to the act, if anyone enters the reserved area, the person will be arrested.

The decision was taken following reports of six people being killed in tiger attacks between May 3 and August 10. According to Forest officials, since all the attacks happened inside the forest area and there is no evidence that tigers have entered the villages, it has been decided to strictly implement the act.

“This is not a protected area but a reserved forest land and we can take legal action against people trying to enter. We have been warning the villagers but to no avail. So, we are forced to take strict action. We will book people who are caught by our staff trying to enter forest area,” said Divisional Forest Officer V K Singh.

On August 10, a 55-year-old woman’s semi-eaten body was found inside the Deoria forest range — spread over 700 acres. Though the area has been marked for Tiger Census 2010, this was the first time that there was evidence regarding the presence of big cats in the area.

“This is for the first time that we have seen incidents of tiger attacks in the area. It seems that a young tiger or a group of tigers are trying to expand their territory. So far, the tiger has not come towards the human habitat but is attacking people who are entering its territory,” said Singh. All these incidents have been reported 3 km to 5 km inside the forest area. Perhaps the victims had gone to collect wood or cut grass, he added.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/To-prevent-tiger-attacks--Forest-dept-to-arrest-trespassers-in-reserved-areas-of-Pilibhit/659279

Tiger not a man-eater if killings accidental

LUCKNOW: Pilibhit tiger killed sixth human on Monday evening. But forest officials are not yet willing to brand it a man-eater. The reason being that tiger did not ambush and kill humans. Victims had all gone to the forest, were attacked, killed and eaten by it.

The bundles of firewood, grass and bags containing `katarua' mushroom (which grows extensively in monsoon and sells for Rs 70 to 80 per kg) were recovered from spots of killings. Most probably, victims were attacked while they were squatting on ground and the tiger mistook them to be quadrupeds.

"However, now it may not happen because if it is one tiger killing all, it would not be scared of human beings anymore," said G C Mishra, former director, Dudhwa. Man-killing and man-eating are different stages.

There are several circumstances under which human beings attacked accidentally by tigers and leopards, might die, but these cases are to be considered only accidental killings. The National Tiger Conservation Authority's (NTCA) guidelines for declaration of big cats as man eaters are clear on this.

"Such circumstances include approach by man in an area where tigress is sheltering her cubs, approaching accidentally a sleeping tiger/tigress, especially by grass cutters and wood collectors, a bent posture of humans when a tiger takes him to be an animal and attacks. In such cases, tiger may not eat dead person for the first time but it may start eating the dead body if it comes across such accidents more than once."

Besides, if tigress is with cubs and is confined to a limited area where there is shortage of natural prey, it is more prone to eat the body. The eating of dead body does not prove it is a man-eater. Similarly, the fact that tiger has killed more than one human being also does not prove it is a man-eater. The circumstances under which animal killed the human being should be examined in detail.

In case of Deoria tiger, it could be a "potential man-eater". More because humans are an easy prey. In most of the situations, it is old age, illness or deformity that makes tiger a man-eater. Whether Deoria tiger too has any of these problems is yet to be ascertained.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Tiger-not-a-man-eater-if-killings-accidental-/articleshow/6289952.cms

Tardy progress on census

NAGPUR: State's principal chiefconservator of forests (wildlife) Dinesh Chandra Pant has set August 31 as deadline for all the remaining forest divisions in the state to submit data on tiger census conducted between January 28 and February 3.

Pant told TOI that of the 76 forest divisions including those in Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM), only 36 had submitted the data so far. "We are in constant touch with the remaining divisions and have asked them to submit the data by month-end," he added.

In the six-day exercise (phase I), carnivore sign survey, ungulate encounter rate, and habitat quality was done by sampling of beats and variety of features were recorded by moving on transect lines drawn in 5,838 beats. The data feeding is in its final stage in respective divisions. It is being submitted on a CD to chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Nandkishore's office at Nagpur.

Earlier, a deadline of April 30 was set. It was later extended to July 31 and it has finally been set for August 31 by Pant. Pant said there were certain technical problems and corrections had to be made. Secondly, at many divisions, officials who were trained in data feeding got transferred recently resulting in delay.

The collected data would be submitted to Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, which would come out with the estimated tiger numbers most likely in November. Prior to that, intensive monitoring of source population with the help of photo identity, radio telemetry, sign surveys for three months would be done before declaring final figures.

In Maharashtra, over 5,000 sq km area having tiger presence was scanned. Although are keeping their fingers crossed, they expect the numbers to go up with new cubs and tigers being sighted in some new areas even after first phase of data collection.

"In 2007, when a similar census was conducted, the data collected was not up to the mark as field staff had not got clear view of new methodology. This time, a serious exercise was done and many left out areas were also covered. This will not necessarily mean more or less tigers, but there will be greater accuracy in estimation," a senior wildlife wing official said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Tardy-progress/articleshow/6296799.cms