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Captured Kheri man-eater tigress to be shifted to Lucknow zoo
The man-eater tigress, which is said to have killed around 23 people in Khairatiya and nearby villages of Lakhimpur Kheri district, was captured after an almost 11-day operation.
The man-eater tigress that was captured on June 29 by the foresters at Dudhwa Tiger Reserve would be shifted to Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Zoological Garden (Lucknow zoo), stated orders of Uttar Pradesh chief wildlife warden KP Dubey. The experts and the foresters are yet to decide the fate of the tiger caged on June 28.
The foresters said there are possibilities that the tiger could be released deep inside the jungle, away from the human habitat.
“U.P. chief wildlife warden KP Dubey has granted permission on Friday to shift the man-eater tigress to Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Zoo (Lucknow). The tigress would be transported in a covered cage via a truck on Friday night to the zoo,” said Sanjay Pathak, field director, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR).
Pathak said the fate of the second big cat would be decided based on its behavioural analysis. “Once analysis is done, the experts would decide whether the tiger needs to be shifted to a zoo or back into the jungle. Until then, the tiger would remain caged,” he added.
He said the decision on the tiger, captured on June 28, is expected by Saturday.
Meanwhile, zoo authorities here in the state capital denied having any information about the tigress being brought to Lucknow.
“I don’t know anything about this. Neither was I part of the big cat catching operation nor am I informed about shifting of any tigress here,” said Dr Utkarsh Shukla, deputy director and a veterinary officer with Lucknow zoo.
Initially, in a statement, the authorities had said that the zoo was running short of space and doesn’t have enough space to accommodate another big cat. Presently, the zoo has 12 big cats, including a pair of white tigers. There are three adult tigers, three tigresses and four cubs, including three males and one female.
Meanwhile, DTR field director Pathak said that the teams of Katarniya Wildlife Sanctuary and North Kheri Division would continue their patrolling in the area to ensure no further human casualties by the big cats. He said the operation would continue until the movement of tigers from the human habitat stops.
It is worth mentioning that joint teams of Katarniaghat Wildlife Division (KWD), North Kheri forest division had launched an operation in the Majhra purab area, located on the border of KWS and Dudhwa buffer zone, after five human killings by big cats were reported from the area in June last month.
The tigress, which is said to have killed around 23 people in Khairatiya and nearby villages of Lakhimpur Kheri district was eventually captured after an almost 11-day operation. The tigress was captured from Khairatiya village, where the big cats had executed three killings. The killing of a local priest Mohan Das on June 18 in Khairatiya village was the first. After that, a teenage boy Ram Singh and a woman Mindo Kaur were killed on June 22 and June 27, respectively.
