FOREST OFFICIAL BOOKED FOR TIGRESS DEATH

DEHRADUN: A forest official has been booked in connection with the killing of a tigress near the Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand’s Almora district, officials familiar with the development said on Wednesday.

The Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) administration admitted that the tigress, believed to be 8 to 10 years old, which was found dead in the Marchula market area in the buffer zone of the wildlife sanctuary on Monday night, was killed in the firing by a forest official.

Dheeraj Singh, a forest guard of CTR’S Mandal range, had fired two rounds from a 12-bore gun to scare away the animal, but one of the bullets hit the big cat in its right thigh, said CTR director Dheeraj Pandey.

“Many people were standing on their terrace and it was unsafe for the forest team to fire shots into the air. To ensure the safety of human lives and scare the animal, the forest official fired two rounds on the ground but pellets of one of the bullets hit the animal in its right thigh, leading to its death,” he said.

Forest guard Dheeraj Singh has been booked under provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, said the CTR director.