E-Paper
Rehmankheda: Waiting for tiger, forest team ready to tranquillise it
There are two cages while one bait is in the open field under watch by one of the tranquillising team
Human footfall has been reduced in pockets of Rehmankheda where a tiger was spotted in the past 72 hours while a bait and watch tower are in place to allow the big cat to approach the trap laid by forest department.
“The plan is simple. Allow tiger to reach the bait so that it could be tranquillised,” said Sitanshu Pandey, divisional forest officer of Awadh range. “This could take a day or two. Reduction in human intervention is needed to make the tiger comfortable to walk towards the bait.
“There are two cages while one bait is in the open field under watch by one of the tranquillising team. The other team is at tree house,” he added.
“The aim is to tranquillise the tiger in the next two or three days,” said Pandey on Sunday. “The tiger is under search by forest staff since December 14. It has killed a blue bull but has not attacked human. Hence, the plan is to leave the wild cat in forest after rescue operation,” he added.
Meanwhile, chief conservator of forest Renu Singh visited Rehmankheda and took stock of the preparations during the day. The forest officer said a team from Kanpur zoo has come with net, transportation cage, related vehicle and other equipment to conduct rescue operation.
“The team is looking for a proper place where the tiger can be cornered before being rescued. Once the team is able to corner the tiger, assess its health and general condition only then a decision on rescue operation will be taken,” he added. “Tranquilliser will be used once we prepare a final plan for rescue operation,” Pandey said.
