Bihar orders to shoot maneater tiger in VTR

The Bihar government on Friday issued “shoot at sight” orders for a tiger in the Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) which is believed to have killed at least four people in the last one month, two of them in the last two days, even as the ongoing hunt for the “maneater” has been intensified, forest officials said

The Bihar government on Friday issued “shoot at sight” orders for a tiger in the Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) which is believed to have killed at least four people in the last one month, two of them in the last two days, even as the ongoing hunt for the “maneater” has been intensified, forest officials said.

A tiger roams in VTR. (HT Archives)

“For the last 26 days, a 150-strong rescue team of forest personnel and others have been searching for the tiger, which has managed to dodge them. The strength of the rescue team has now been increased to 400, but the maneater has remained elusive. The rescue work was also hampered by bad weather. Under section 11 (1) (a) of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, this tiger has been declared maneater and orders to shoot and kill it have been issued,” said a statement issued by the forest department on Friday.

The orders came a day after a 35-year-old man, Sanjay Mahato, was found dead on Thursday. Wildlife conservator and field director of VTR, Dr Neshamani K, attributed his death to the same tiger that killed a 12-year-old girl at Singahi Mustoli village on Wednesday midnight.

“Yes, it’s the same tiger. So far, four people have been killed by this tiger alone. We are doing everything to catch the big cat. But owing to the water-logging and downpour, we are facing huge challenges,” said Dr Neshamani.

Forest officials said the latest incident occurred when Mahato was on his way to relieve himself at Dumari village in Ranghiya forest range of VTR in Bagaha subdivision.

Soon after the incident, a large number of villagers went on a rampage and manhandled forest personnel, including range officer Sujeet Kumar, and damaged a vehicle belonging to forest department.

“We somehow managed to escape after a large number of villagers surrounded us while we were on search for the tiger. They damaged our official vehicle,” said Sujeet Kumar, ranger officer, Raghiya.

Dr Neshamani confirmed that chief wildlife warden Prabhat Gupta has issued orders to kill the tiger.

Meanwhile, forest personnel cited public disturbance as one of the reasons behind their failure to trap the tiger. “A few times, we were very close to trapping the tiger but failed because an elephant went berserk and, at times, villagers raised noise,” said one of them, who was willing to be identified.

West Champaran’s district magistrate (DM) Kundan Kumar said a slew of measures were being taken to alert the local residents. “Apart from regular public announcements, we have also roped in local villages to spread awareness about safety measures to be followed by the residents,” he said.

The rescue team comprises trackers, shooters and veterinary experts.