Poachers again active in tiger reserves, one cub dies

Pradip Kumar Maitra, Hindustan Times Poachers have struck yet again cocking a snook at the forest personnel and the government. Another big cat - a tiger cub – which was found injured in Chorbauli forest died in Nagpur on Friday. The cub fell victim to suspected poachers in Vidarbha where seven tigers were killed by poachers since January 2012. The five-month cub separated from its mother was found in injured state by some villagers in Chorbauli forest range, adjacent to the Pench Tiger reserves, some 75 kms from here on Thursday morning. They immediately informed the local forest department that led to shift the female cub at Nagpur for treatment. The wild animal sustained serious injuries in many parts of its body after a stray dog attacked it when the cub tried to enter in a forest village on Thursday early morning. PG Thakre, the round officer of Chorbauli forest range, who brought the cub to Nagpur for treatment in a jeep, informed that the villagers noticed the resting big cat in the field of one Siddhilal Chauksey near Mogra village on Thursday early morning. “It was being treated by a team of veterinary doctors since yesterday afternoon. However, the big cat was not responding to the treatment. The cub sustained multiple injuries in different parts of the body,” said Kishore Mishrikotkar, the assistant conservator of forests (wildlife). The condition of the animal, believed to have suffered internal injuries, worsened in the night and it dies on Friday around 6.00 am, Mishrikotkar added. After autopsy, the carcass will be either buried or burnt. Earlier, two tigers were caught in steel traps set by professional tiger poachers in a heart-rending incident that took place in Palasgaon jungle, a buffer zone of Tadoba in Chandrapur district last month. One tiger died and the other has been rescued by the forest department but has serious injuries. “The tiger is now being treated in Nagpur and it is responding to the treatment,” claimed Mishrikotkar. In another shocking incident, the mutilated body of a tiger was found outside the Tadoba tiger reserves last week. Poachers took away the head, paws and vital organs of the tiger, leaving behind a chopped off tail and other body parts stuffed in gunny bags dumped on a state highway. Talking to Hindustan Times, Mishrikotkar informed that a combing operation was launched near Pench tiger reserves after the cub was found in injured state. “We suspected that mother of the cub might have been killed by the poachers and thus it was separated from its mother,” he said. http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Maharashtra/Poachers-again-active-in-tiger-reserves-one-cub-dies/Article1-864619.aspx