The lakhimpur Tiger which had been a bane for the Forest Department for the past two months was tranqualized by the Forest Department on Monday morning at 11:30 am at the Bheera range of the lakhimpur Kheri division. Chief Wildlife Warden Rupak De while talking to "The Pioneer" said that the animal will be released in the dense forest in the Satiyana range.
It was after the animal was tranqualized that it was discovered that it was a tigress and not a tiger. The beast had been on the prowl for the past two months and had made only one kill at the Dimrol division on Feburary 21. But its constant movement in the area had scared the villagers.
The tranqualizing experts present on the occasion were Deputy Director lucknow Zoo Utkarsh Shukla, Saurabh Singhai and Devendra Singh Chauhan from the WTI.
Chief Wildlife Warden Rupak De said that they were releasing the tigress on the same day in the thicker forest area which would ensure that it would not return. "Releasing it in the thick forest area will prevent it from straying towards the sugarcane fields" said De.
Chief Conservator Awadh division Eva Sharma under whose jurisdiction the lakhimpur Division lies said that it was a difficult task to get the tigress tranqualized. "It was very difficult task and the teams had been on the job for the past twenty five days to carry out the task. Since the past two years the area has mot seen an tranqualization of any tiger" she said.
As per the forest officials the animal scared the villagers by its presence in the sugarcane fields close to the forest. "The sugarcane fields that were close to the forest were almost like a habitat for the tigress who frequented the same area and thus scared the villagers by its presence. There was a need to tranqualize the tigress bcause it is a very unpredictable animal" said DFO South Division KK Pandey..
Meanwhile the tigress operations continue at Bijnore for the search of the stray tigress. " The operations are on and we are monitoring the camera traps and the staff is on the alert along with the villagers regarding the tigress" said Chief Wildlife Warden De.
Dr Abhijit the tranqualizing expert from Assam who assisted the Forest Department in Bijnore and Meerut when a leopard entered the city said that there were no sign of the Bijnore Tigress in the Bijnore forests. " It has in all possibility moved back to the thick forest area because till the time we were there we could not get any pug marks. Its almost a month since the maneater has made a kill which makes it a strange. The tigress in all possibility has moved back" he said. With the tigress at the lakhimpur Kheri tranquailized , the tigress at Bijnore making no kills and the leopard at Meerut having moved to its natural habitat, the Forest Department has got some grip over the situation.