Tiger besieged by mob rescued

Chandrapur: Forest officials rescued the tiger trapped in the pipe on Bhisi – Jambhulghat road late in the night on Thursday amid chaos caused by mob of over 4,000 villagers. The feline was kept in a cage and immediately taken to Khadsangi forest rest house were it was tranquillized and examined by a veterinary doctor.
The villagers had besieged the full-grown tiger while it was resting in the pipe laid on a stream passing under the road in Chimur forest range on Thursday afternoon.Forest officials and local police failed to disperse the crowd which continued to swell till late in the night.
“It was a very risky situation. Despite repeated appeals to leave the place to help tiger walk back into the jungle, the mob was not ready to budge. Had the tiger turned aggressive and attacked the onlookers, there could have been several casualties. So, as a precaution we captured the tiger,” said DCF, Brahmapuri forest division, Ashish Thakre, who supervised the rescue operation. He urged the people to cooperate with forest officials in such situations.
Forest officials placed two cages at both the ends of the pipe. After waiting for more than six hours, the tiger finally walked into the cage around 10.30pm. Forest staff led by RFO KR Akkewar immediately covered the cage with a net and took the tiger to Khadsangi forest rest house. Veterinary doctor from Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, Dr Ravikant Khobragade examined the tiger for any injuries and ailment.
Thakre claimed that the male tiger was found to be fit during the medical examination. “It will be released back into the wild soon after getting approval from the higher authorities,” he said.