‘35-year-old man killed by tiger in Corbett reserve’
HALDWANI: A 35-year-old man was killed by a tiger in Corbett tiger reserve (CTR) while he was guarding his agricultural field, the forest officials said on Thursday.
They quoted the locals as saying that the incident happened when he was guarding his agricultural field on Wednesday evening. After receiving the information, a team from the forest department rushed to the spot and tried to take possession of the body but the villagers protested against it as they demanded the officials to kill the tiger.
After much uproar and assurance by officials, the body was allowed to be taken away for post-mortem, the forest officials added.
Deputy director of Corbett Tiger Reserve Diganth Nayak said, “Pramod Tiwari alias Pappu (35), resident of Manorathpur Bastila, had gone to his field to guard it. When he did not return till evening, the family members called him but no one answered. The family members then began a search for Pramod. They heard the roar of a tiger, and started screaming.”
He said the body of Pramod Tiwari was recovered 150 metres away from the field. “There were deep wounds on his neck. After receiving information from the villagers about the incident, a forest team rushed to the spot and tried to take possession of the body but the villagers protested and demanded that the tiger be killed. The forest team tried to convince them but they remained adamant. Later, after persuasion by the forest team, they handed over the body. The forest team took possession of the body and sent it for postmortem,” he said.
Nayak further said, “The family of the deceased has been given 30% of the compensation amount of ₹4 lakh has been given to the family of the deceased. The body was handed over to the relatives after post-mortem on Thursday. After getting permission from the chief wildlife warden, the operation to catch the tiger has been started. At present, a joint team of Terai western forest division and CTR is patrolling the area. Two cages have been installed to catch the tiger.”
Many people have been killed in tiger attacks over the last one year. In January this year, a 50-year-old woman was killed in a tiger attack in CTR’s Dhela range. In the same month, a 54-year-old woman was killed in a tiger attack in the village of Khatima in US Nagar. The woman had gone to attend a natural call when the tiger attacked her and dragged her to the forest.
In the first week of December, a 30-year-old woman was killed by a tiger in the Dhela range. In the same month, three women in Bhimtal block of Nainital district were killed in attacks between December 7 and 19.
On November 23, a 57-yearold daily wager was killed by a tiger in CTR’s Dhikala range. On November 19, a 22-year-old Nepalese labourer was killed in a tiger attack in CTR.
Uttarakhand has reported the third highest tiger population in the country with 560 tigers, while the CTR has reported the highest tiger population with 260 tiger among the country’s 53 tiger reserves.
In the latest report, the tiger population in Uttarakhand has risen from 178 in 2006, 227 in 2010, 340 in 2014, 442 in 2018 and 560 in 2022.