Forest nod to capture ‘problem’ Brahmapuri tigress

Nagpur: Even as the news about shooting a young problem tigress in Ramnagar near Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand on Thursday is yet to sink, conservationists and wildlife lovers got another shock with the state forest department getting a go-ahead to capture the problem tigress in North Brahmapuri, Chandrapur.
The problem tigress is one of the two big cats — one male and one female — radio-collared by Wildlife Institute of India (WII) scientist Bilal Habib in June.The male sub-adult cub died on August 10.
Ashish Thakre, deputy conservator, Brahmapuri division, informed that the three-year-old problem tigress had killed a woman near Saigaon in North Brahmapuri range on September 23 evening. Since then, she has also injured another three persons.
“Rekha Gurnule (35) was working in the farm when the tiger lurking in the crops attacked her,” Thakre said. A team of over 40 — including field staff, experts and NGOs — has been monitoring the tigress for the past 25 days. “The animal’s behaviour has been strange and she is turning towards the villages,” he added.
“State’s chief wildlife warden (CWLW) Shree Bhagwan last week granted permission to Brahmapuri forest officials to capture the wildcat under Section 11 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972,” said chief conservator of forests (CCF) VS Shelke, Chandrapur.
However, Section 11 relates to permission to hunt Schedule 1 animals by CWLW, if it is beyond doubt that the animal has become dangerous to human life or is so disabled or diseased beyond recovery, by order in writing and stating the reasons.
GK Vashishtha, DFO & wildlife spokesperson, said, “Man-animal conflict is common in Brahmapuri. The tranquillizing team has been able to track the tigress’s movement as it is collared. But the team has been unable to dart the animal owing to difficult terrain.”
The entire Brahmapuri landscape has tigers as it holds surplus population from Tadoba. “Such cases are bound to happen every couple of years. A full-grown problem male tiger was shot dead in Talodi in Brahmapuri on November 30, 2007,” he said.
However, conservationists cautioned the forest department from bucking under pressure from locals to shoot the tigress.
“Many tiger attack occur due to encroachment on tiger habitats. Some attacks occur when villagers enter their territory to cut grass, collect firewood. In Brahmapuri, young tigers, without territory, are being forced to look for prey and hence encounters with humans are very likely. The working of FDCM has also proved detrimental,” said Prafulla Bhamburkar, whose Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) survey has recorded 27 tigers in Brahmapuri.