Big cat finally spotted near Rahmankhera

TNN | Jan 18, 2012, 07.57AM IST LUCKNOW:The elusive tiger finally made an appearance on Tuesday. At least 50-odd people saw the tiger crossing the railway line near the Subtropical Horticulture Institute at Rahmankhera twice. The locals said that the feline wasn't wary of human presence around, though there were at least 50 to 60 people near the institute, from the surrounding villages, at that time. "It was afternoon and people were moving around for their work when the tiger appeared. Though men were quite far from the spot, tiger crossed the track twice," said a local from Rahmankhera. "It was the first day-light movement of the feline," said Rahul Shukla, former honorary wildlife warden, Kishenpur, who has been tracking the tiger and also visited the spot on Wednesday. The tiger has started moving actively in the area. There were reports that in the morning, at around 10:30, the feline had walked on the road, as well. As of now, it's not reacting to human presence around. However, when it saw men, it slid back to its cover in the forest at Kakori. "Its movement show it could be hungry," said Shukla. The tiger is said to make four kills in a month-long perithat od. Considering that it made its last kill on January 6, it could be the time when the big cat is hungry again. Its present location is a rich habitat, with lot of tiger's natural prey, thick cover to hide and a water body. Though there has been no man-animal conflict reported from the area, situation like what happened on Wednesday, with tiger appearing out of its cover in the day, and men moving around, it could turn dangerous. The juvenile tiger, so far, has kept out of the human territory and moved through its way silently. But, panicking men can turn it violent. The forest department, in more than a week's time, has failed to track the tiger. There has been no effort made to localize the tiger. The subtropical institute's campus, in Rahmankhera, where the tiger has been present for all this while, is some 3 to 4 kms area, but, the forest department officers have not been able to track the tiger. On the contrary, the department has put up iron cages at the place to trap the tiger. A forest staff also shared that the tiger moved in and out of the cage without been trapped, on Tuesday evening. "We had suggested to tranquilise the tiger but the department did not buy the argument," said GC Mishra, former director, Dudhwa. There is always a possibility that a healthy tiger will be left injured in the cage, as the tiger tries to set itself free and in a bid injures itself. "An injured tiger is not fit to survive in the wild, and, is most likely to end up in a zoo," said Mishra. However, DFO, Awadh could not be contacted for a comment. The forest officials had installed closed circuit television cameras at different points in the forest area. Incidentally, the tiger stepped up on a camera that was placed near a brick and its image was captured. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Big-cat-finally-spotted-near-Rahmankhera/articleshow/11533579.cms