Tiger chase in Corbett forces tourist ban in certain parts

A FIRE WATCHMAN WITH THE RESERVE, HARI RAM, WAS KILLED AND HIS BODY EATEN UP BY THE TIGER ON APRIL 10 IN KAMARPATTA AREA

DEHRADUN: The Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) has temporarily banned tourist movement and night stays by staff in some areas as the killer tiger has still not been caged, chief wildlife warden Digvijay Singh Khati said on Tuesday.

The reserve opens for tourists from November till June every tourist season and has about 240 tigers.

Over 2 lakh tourists visit the reserve every season.

A fire watchman with the reserve, Hari Ram, was killed and his body eaten up by the tiger on April 10 in Kamarpatta area of the reserve.

The tiger even attacked the officials who reached the spot searching for Ram.

The forest officials immediately installed eight cameras to map the tiger movement and bait him into the trap. But, they have failed to gain success even after nine days.

Khati admitted that there had been a delay in catching the tiger which could be a threat to tourists and staff members.

“But, we don’t want to trap the animal in haste. It will take at least 10 more days to capture him,” he said, adding efforts were on to identify his location to lay the trap.

Kamarpatta is only 2 kilometres from the Khinanauli Forest Rest House where VIPs and politicians, including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi with Priyanaka’s family often stay during t heir visit t o the reserve.

Wildlife experts, however, are concerned over the safety of staff as earlier on March 26 also a staff member was attacked by a tiger.

Wildlife expert Abhishekh Kumar said that forest staff members should be well armed to defend against animal attacks.