Second big cat trapped in Kheri’s Khairatiya village
LUCKNOW\LAKHIMPUR
KHERI: Another big cat was trapped by foresters in Khairatiya village of Lakhimpur Kheri near Dudhwa buffer zone on Wednesday night after an 11-day-long operation. This came a day after a man-eater tiger was captured here. The gender of the latest catch was yet to be confirmed, said officials.
Over the past few months, the two animals were said to have killed around 23 people in villages near Lakhimpur Kheri.
Ashish Badhawan, divisional forest officer (DFO), Kataraniya Ghat, while confirming the capture of another big cat, said: “After an extensive combing operation, this big cat was trapped on Wednesday night. Both the big cats are now in cages and people can now move freely without any fear.”
Officials engaged in the combing operation said the big cat was captured from Khairatiya village – the same place from where the first tiger was captured.
“As the big cat was spotted in Khairatiya village, we placed the cage on the same spot. And eventually the second big cat, the visuals of which were captured in the camera trap, was trapped on Wednesday night,” said a forester.
Since June 18, the Khairatia area close to Manjhra Purab forests had seen four casualties due to mananimal conflicts.
These included a local priest Mohan Das, a teenage boy, Ram Singh, a 30-year-old man Nagendra Singh and a woman, Mindo Kaur, 30.
The man-eater tiger captured by foresters in Manjhra Purab area of Dudhwa buffer zone late on Monday night will be released into the forest, away from human population, said officials.
“The tiger we captured has been kept under observation as per norms. The cage has been covered in order to calm down the tiger that appears in extremely good health. It is under observation for almost 24 hours and would be relocated after a medical check-up,” said Sanjay Pathak, field director, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve.
Pathak said the captured tiger appears to be around six to seven years old.
“Initially, there was a little confusion regarding the gender of the two big cats but it was cleared later after our team managed to catch one of them.
It is yet to be decided where the tiger will be relocated. But it will be relocated far from human population, deep inside the jungle,” he added.
Initially, there were speculations that the captured big cat would be lodged in Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Zoological Garden, Lucknow.
However, authorities at the zoo made it clear that they are short of space and already have 12 tigers, including a pair of white tigers, to feed.
Bringing in an extra tiger would cause burden on the zoo, they added.