With the onset of winter, big cat turns violent

Bipin Chand Agarwal, TNN | Nov 11, 2011, 08.43AM IST BAHRAICH: The onset of winter makes the leopards and tigers more aggressive, thanks to the beginning of the reproductive period, the wild carnivores feel insecure and as a result, the cases of man-animal conflict generally go up. Speaking to TOI, divisional forest officer (DFO) wildlife RK Singh said, "Prevention of man-animal conflict is the best possible solution. The reproductive period of leopards and tigers start with the onset of winter and in view of this, they cannot afford interference of the human beings in their territory. The time of reproductive period of leopards and tigers starts usually during November end. The three attacks of tigers, which occurred this year was due to their reproductive period, which has already started." He further stated that the villagers need to take precautionary measures to avoid the attacks of tigers till the end of January. They are also being given instructions for the same from time to time, he said and added that the villagers should ensure their security by following the instructions of the forest department. Following the tiger's attack at Khairipurwa village of Nishangarha range, the chief conservator forest (CCF) BK Patnaik visited the incident spot. On Saturday a tiger dragged away a woman to the forest and after several hours her carcass was found. The chief conservator forest met with the victim's family at Khairipurwa village, he also inquired about the incident from DFO Singh and gave necessary orders to trap the tiger. The field director of Dudhwa National Park Shailesh Prasad spotted the pugmarks of the tigers there and inspected the cages installed at various points in Katarniaghat reserve forest area to trap the tigers and leopards. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/With-the-onset-of-winter-big-cat-turns-violent/articleshow/10687603.cms