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DUDHWA BUFFER ZONE: After Friday’s human killing, stray tiger kills cow and calf
Forest authorities fear that the big cat is turning into a man-eater, intensify efforts to capture it.
The terror of a tiger that strayed away from the Manjhra Purab forest area under the Dudhwa buffer zone continued on Monday. On Sunday night, the stray tiger killed a cow and a calf at the house of one Rakesh of the Khairatiya village.
The cattle killing incident came soon after the human killing on Friday night in the same area, where the stray tiger had killed a 52-year local priest Mohan Das and barring the head and a portion of the priest’s hand, the rest of his body was eaten.
The identity of the stray tiger is yet to be ascertained, however, the forest authorities fear the stray tiger is growing into a man-eater. The authorities have intensified operations to tranquillize and capture the tiger.
Elephants from Dudhwa have been engaged since Sunday to patrol and locate the big cat while the forest department and WWF teams have been combing and monitoring the area through drones and cameras.
Field Director, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) Sanjay Kumar Pathak said, “Experts from wildlife trust of India (WTI), who hold expertise in handling such man-animal conflicts are expected to arrive at Manjhra on Tuesday.”
