On one hand we ‘the humans’ are fighting to save the Tigers who are on the verge of extinction in India, while on the other hand, we are responsible for their deteriorating numbers. Recently, a tiger died due to the possible overdose of a tranquillizer after it was captured in the forests adjacent to Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve.
According to the reports published in a leading English daily ‘The Indian Express’, on March 16, two migrant labourers who worked at a stone quarry were dead after being attacked by a male tiger in the forest of Belpadav range in the Terai West Forest Division. The tiger attacked Bhagwati Devi, 33, and her father-in-law Lakhpat who tried to help her. Both of them died on the spot.
The local forest sources said the stone quarrying lobby put pressure on the forest officials to immediately remove the tiger as labourers threatened to abandon work.
A member of the medical staff of the forest department said, “It is difficult to tell if it died due to overdosing or injuries or both. The tiger was probably overdosed as they tried to sedate it twice as it did not go down immediately and also suffered spinal injuries, possibly from the JCB.”
However, Divisional Forest Officer, Terai West, Kahkashan Naseem and Chief Wildlife Warden, Uttarakhand, D S Khati have not made any comment on the matter.
Debabrata Swain, member secretary, National Tiger Conservation Authority, told The Sunday Express, “an expert fact-finding team would be formed and sent to Ramnagar on Monday. “We will find out why the Standard Operating Procedure was not followed. There is always pressure in a situation of conflict but we cannot use an earthmover to catch a tiger.”
