NEW DELHI: All human casualties around Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) in Bihar since May cannot be attributed to a lone tiger as there is perhaps one more maneater on the prowl. A number of deaths could, in fact, be attributed to the one who could still be alive, according to observers who keep a track on human-tiger conflict issues across the country.
Though the Bihar government issued a “shoot at sight” order on Friday for one tiger that was killed a day later, all boots will continue to be on ground to trace the second one and push it inside the forest safely to thwart any similar incidents in the region.
“I got an update from the field director and also interacted with international tiger conservation authority officials. Perhaps, there are two tigers. One which now caused human mortality had a track record of five people getting killed (in the past one month or so). Earlier deaths, I am told, have not been attributed to this particular animal,” Rajesh Gopal, secretary general of the Global Tiger Forum, told TOIon Saturday.
The first person to die on the fringes of the VTR after a tiger attack was on May 8. Subsequently, there had been reports of human casualties on May 14, May 20 and July 14 before the recent ones on September 12, September 21, October 5, October 7 and October 8. One tiger has been declared man eater under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Gopal, who led several initiatives in wild tiger conservation for over 35 years and had served with the National Tiger Conservation Authority, said invoking such an order by the state was not a rarity.
“I could recall many examples — be it in Pilibhit (UP), Dudhwa (UP), Kanha (MP) and other tiger reserves… Idea is always to capture them alive. But if they go beyond control, then such animals need to be eliminated,” he said.
The recent incidents around VTR reflects the larger concerns around human-tiger conflicts which in the past three years has taken 125 lives across the country against the backdrop of rise in the population of the predators.
Though the Bihar government issued a “shoot at sight” order on Friday for one tiger that was killed a day later, all boots will continue to be on ground to trace the second one and push it inside the forest safely to thwart any similar incidents in the region.
“I got an update from the field director and also interacted with international tiger conservation authority officials. Perhaps, there are two tigers. One which now caused human mortality had a track record of five people getting killed (in the past one month or so). Earlier deaths, I am told, have not been attributed to this particular animal,” Rajesh Gopal, secretary general of the Global Tiger Forum, told TOIon Saturday.
The first person to die on the fringes of the VTR after a tiger attack was on May 8. Subsequently, there had been reports of human casualties on May 14, May 20 and July 14 before the recent ones on September 12, September 21, October 5, October 7 and October 8. One tiger has been declared man eater under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Gopal, who led several initiatives in wild tiger conservation for over 35 years and had served with the National Tiger Conservation Authority, said invoking such an order by the state was not a rarity.
“I could recall many examples — be it in Pilibhit (UP), Dudhwa (UP), Kanha (MP) and other tiger reserves… Idea is always to capture them alive. But if they go beyond control, then such animals need to be eliminated,” he said.
The recent incidents around VTR reflects the larger concerns around human-tiger conflicts which in the past three years has taken 125 lives across the country against the backdrop of rise in the population of the predators.