‘Avni’s cub hampering rescue efforts’
MUMBAI: The male cub of tigress T-1 (Avni), who was killed in November by hunters commissioned by the forest department, has been foiling the plan to rescue and rehabilitate him. The forest department now plans to use nets to catch the cub.
The year-old cub (T1C1) has been killing live baits and feeding on the carcass at Pandharkawada forest in Ralgeon between 11pm and 4am.
This has made it difficult to tranquillise him, read minutes of the meeting (MOM) from February 6 accessed by HT. The information came to light after the newly appointed principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF) wildlife, Nitin Kakodkar, took stock of the rescue efforts.
“The rescue operation has been intensified. The cub is not killing wild prey, which is bothering,” said Kakodkar. The MOM also revealed the cub was preying on live baits such as goats and ponies. However, it stayed away from largesized baits.
The forest officials have now decided to rescue the cub using a net (20mx20m), which will be placed below the bait.
The officials decided to rescue the cub, as it is too young to fend for itself in the wild. They are also worried that he could become a ‘man-eater’ like his mother.
Drills to recuse the male cub using a net will be performed Wednesday.
“A net, attached to a pulley, will be placed below the bait [in compartment 653]. An official sitting on the nearby tree will pull the net after the tiger goes for the kill. Once caught, the cub will be tranquilised and transported to Pench Tiger Reserve. If the drills prove successful, the actual plan will be executed in the next five days,” said Sunil Limaye, additional principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife), Nagpur.
Although Avni’s female cub was rescued on December 22 and sent to Pench, the male cub jumped over a 10-foot high-chain link fence near Loni village (compartment 655). He was later spotted on January 9 and has managed to evade capture since.
Animal welfare group petitioning against Avni’s death said the forest department should extend the chain link fence to the site where the cub is killing live baits.
“Extending the enclosure is a safer option, as they may startle the cub while placing nets under the bait and he may leave the area. This could extend the rescue further. Also, it is a matter of concern that the forest department is not taking help of the experts, from Madhya Pradesh, who helped rescue the female cub,” said Dr Sarita Subramaniam from Earth Brigade Foundation.
Limaye said the current location of the male cub is far away from the previous enclosure erected near Loni village.
“Also, the cub can move back to the previous enclosure, where baits have been kept,” he added.