Nagpur: The Maharashtra government has issued shoot-on-sight orders for a tigress that is suspected of recently killing three women in Chandrapur district. The tigress had killed three women near Sindewahi taluka, bordering Tadoba Tiger Reserve within a fortnight when they had ventured into the forests to gather firewood. Maharashtra forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, who hails from Chandrapur district, said that he has spoken to the state forest department, which would soon put down the tiger.
The tigress killed Meerabai Chowdhuri (63) on January 13, and Babita Mendhe on January 22 and Manda Dandekar, who are natives of Shivni village, on January 25. The tigress also wounded several villagers since October 2016. Several villagers and forest personnel jointly came out for a massive search operation in the area to locate the wild cat. Sources from the forest department said that senior officials are also camping at Sindewahi to oversee the situation.
Mr Mungantiwar said, “I had told the officials to catch her first. But I was told that the tigress has become dangerous and hence it is necessary to kill her. So, the department has sought permission from the wild life board.” Principal chief conservator of forest Shree Bhagwan was not available for comment.
Speaking about the need to identify the animal, Roheet Karo, Wildlife Warden of Nagpur district, said, “The department should first identify the tigress and only then go ahead with the shooting. The area, where the attacks have been taking place, is packed with tigers and leopards, tranquillising the animal should be the aim of forest officials. Two months ago, a tigress was reported to have attacked some people in the Bramhapuri division of Chandrapur, it was safely tranquillised and shifted after being radiocollared to Gadchiroli, which has fewer tigers.”
Vidya Athreya, a wildlife biologist and researcher-cum-conservationist, said, “If one animal alone is causing issues for the people of Bramhapur division then it has to be dealt with. Tranquillising a freely roaming animal is not only difficult but also not recommended as darting of the animal taken around 20 minutes, which is enough for him to cover a distance of few kilometres.” Highlighting the need to uncover the reason why animals that otherwise avoid humans attack people, she said, “In many researches in the country it is usually observed that these big cats attack people who are hunters or when their cubs have been harmed by the people.”
