Elusive Kheri tiger tracked, tranquilised
LAKHIMPUR KHERI: The forest department’s hunt for elusive tiger ended on Wednesday when the officials successfully tracked and tranquilised the big cat in the forests near Chhedipur village under Mailani range of south Kheri division.
The tiger had unleashed a reign of terror in the village killing four people since August 15.
The team traced the tiger while it was hiding in the forest waiting to feed on the bait placed by the officials in the morning. The tiger is estimated to be 3-4 years old.
Soon after locating the tiger, teams headed by Dr Utkarsh Shukla, Dr Prem Chandra Pandey and Dr Mayukh Chatterjee of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) rushed to the spot.
Dr Prem Chandra Pandey, who had earlier tranquilised a leopard in Meerut, told Hindustan Times that he shot the first dart which hit the tiger and it ran towards the jungle.
“Giving it no chance to escape, Dr Mayukh Chatterjee shot the next dart after which the tiger fell unconscious,” he added.
After being examined by Dr Utkarsh Shukla and Dr Aaron Wesley of WTI, the tiger was taken to the base camp and shifted to a cage.
“Later, a reversal dose was administered to the tiger to bring it back to consciousness,” said Dr Pandey.
Meanwhile, director of the Lucknow zoo Anupam Gupta said, “We are bringing the Royal Bengal tiger to the Lucknow Zoo where the animal will be kept under observation for some time. A further decision will be taken keeping in view his health.”
The operation, which began on Tuesday, was monitored by principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF), wildlife, SK Sharma, Shailesh Prasad, chief conservator of forest (CCF) Eva Sharma, PP Singh and others.
Hundreds of local residents gathered at the spot to watch the tiger which had unleashed terror in the area killing four people, three of them from Chhedipur, since August 15.
Forest authorities have given a new lease of life to the tiger as according to Dr Prem Chandra Pandey of WTI, after four human killings in a row, the authorities had declared the Mailani tiger as a man-eater and instructions had been issued to kill it.
On August 15, the tiger had killed a 14-year-old girl, Saraswati, in the jungles of Suvabojh. On August 19, it killed one Tikaram while he was in his fields in Chhedipur village.
On August 20, the tiger killed Baburam of the same village and on August 28 Janki Pradad of Chhedipur village fell prey to the big cat.
Before August 15, big cats had killed four people but as they were at different locations and mostly in jungles, they were taken as chance casualties.
After the tiger made its last killing in Chhedipur on August 28, the forest department launched an intensive operation to locate the tiger.
This enraged the villagers who staged a massive demonstration on Tuesday.
Dr Pandey said that a controlled dose of Ketamine and Zylogin was injected into the body of the big cat through a dart shot through a special gun.
After the tiger falls unconscious, a close monitoring is done as the body temperature of the animal increases.
Later, the tranquilised big cat is brought to consciousness with a reversal dose of Revergin.