After fortnight of panic, tigress tranquillised in Dudhwa buffer zone

The tigress had been reportedly moving around the area for a fortnight, causing panic amid the cane-harvesting season and disrupting farm and daily activities. Though no human casualty was reported, the big cat had killed pets, said Kirti Chaudhari, deputy director, Dudhwa buffer zone.

In a relief for residents of Basantapur, Semari Purwa and several other villages near the Majhgain range forests in the Dudhwa buffer zone, forest officials on Sunday morning tranquilised a tigress that had strayed into agricultural fields.

The tigress had wandered out of the reserved forest. (File)

The tigress had been reportedly moving around the area for a fortnight, causing panic amid the cane-harvesting season and disrupting farm and daily activities. Though no human casualty was reported, the big cat had killed pets, said Kirti Chaudhari, deputy director, Dudhwa buffer zone.

She said the tigress had wandered out of the reserved forest and its presence near human habitations had been repeatedly reported. Field staff had been monitoring its movement with drones and cameras, and cages were placed at vulnerable points. The department secured permission to tranquilise the animal from the PCCF (wildlife) on November 13.

On Sunday morning, monitoring teams located the big cat near Semri Purwa, a hamlet of Basantapur. An expert from Dudhwa Tiger Reserve tranquillised the animal, which was then shifted to the Majhgain range headquarters for medical examination. It was found to be a tigress aged around four to five years. Further action on its release will follow medical reports and directives from the competent authorities.

DFO, South Kheri, Sanjay Biswal said the injured -- Jagdei, Laxmi, Ankush and Vinod -- were rushed to a local hospital and were out of danger. He added that the villagers later located the jackal and beat it to death with sticks.