Forest officer did not allow Bhiwapur tiger to eat cattle it killed

TNN | Feb 25, 2013, 01.37 AM IST Tiger cub dead in Kaziranga, rhino battles for life at OrangRanthambore tigress relocated to SariskaPoaching menace: Government considering shoot-at-sight at Kaziranga N...Thirsty tigers needn't worryVillages involved in poaching will have to live in dark NAGPUR: Although straying of an adult tiger, which caused scare in Manora and Bhiwapur villages on Saturday, ended on a happy note, problem escalated as the tiger was not allowed to consume cattle it killed in the past 10 days. Roheet Karoo, district honorary wildlife warden, said in the past seven days the full-grown male tiger made at least 10 cattle kills in Bhiwapur II round under the South Umred range. "However, on the insistence of range forest officer (RFO) R M Agrawal, all the cattle kills were buried depriving tiger of food. This aggravated the problem," feels Karoo. Agrawal did not respond to the calls made to him. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) guidelines state that a cattle kill should be monitored by the staff. Last month, a tigress had started attacking humans after it was not allowed to consume cattle it killed near Navegaon National Park. The tigress killed five persons and was finally ordered to be shot under political pressure. On Saturday, around 9.30am, panic gripped Bhiwapur and Manora villages after farmers sighted a tiger in the farm owned by Ishwar Janbandhu. The tiger had killed a calf owned by Janbandhu on Friday night. There was high drama on Saturday when forest officials, Nitin Desai, Central India director of Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), Karoo and others tried to drive the tiger towards forest by bursting crackers and drum beating. "The tiger has retreated towards the Tass forest on Saturday night from where it was suspected to have come. The tiger crossed the tar road to move towards Tass," Desai said. Karoo said due to heavy shower on Saturday night there were trail of pugmarks from where the tiger is suspected to have crossed the road around 9.30pm. Earlier, two males - Bajrang and Chaitram - were identified in Umred-Karhandla wildlife sanctuary. "The tiger sighted on Saturday was not among them. It seems to be a new male, may be trying to create its own territory, Karoo said. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Forest-officer-did-not-allow-Bhiwapur-tiger-to-eat-cattle-it-killed/articleshow/18665641.cms