Elusive ‘man-eater’ that killed 4 people, tracked, tranquilised

The forest department’s hunt for an elusive tiger ended on Wednesday when the officials successfully tracked and tranquilised the big cat in the forests near Chhedipur village under Mailani range of south Kheri division.

The forest department’s hunt for an elusive tiger ended on Wednesday when the officials successfully tracked and tranquilised the big cat in the forests near Chhedipur village under Mailani range of south Kheri division.

After being examined by Dr Utkarsh Shukla and Dr Aaron Wesley of WTI, the tiger was taken to the base camp and shifted to a cage (HT photo)

The tiger had unleashed a reign of terror in the village killing four people since August 15.

The team traced the tiger while it was hiding in the forest waiting to feed on the bait placed by the officials in the morning. The tiger is estimated to be 3-4 years old.

Soon after locating the tiger, teams headed by Dr Utkarsh Shukla, Dr Prem Chandra Pandey and Dr Mayukh Chatterjee of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) rushed to the spot.

Dr Prem Chandra Pandey, who had earlier tranquilised a leopard in Meerut, told Hindustan Times that he shot the first dart which hit the tiger and it ran towards the jungle.

“Giving it no chance to escape, Dr Mayukh Chatterjee shot the next dart after which the tiger fell unconscious,” he added.

The operation, which began on Tuesday, was monitored by principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF), wildlife, SK Sharma, chief conservator of forest (CCF) Eva Sharma and others.

Hundreds of local residents gathered at the spot to watch the tiger which had unleashed terror in the area killing four people, three of them from Chhedipur, since August 15.

After four human killings in a row, the authorities had declared the Mailani tiger as a man-eater and instructions were issued to kill it.