Wildlife activist from the city Ajay Dubey has filed a petition in the Madhya Pradesh High Court (MPHC) to know from the State Government whether or not the tigers of the Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR) and other places in the State are free from Canine Distemper Virus (CDV). The High Court has scheduled hearing over the petition for November 16.
Dubey in his petition before the MPHC said that due to the negligent attitude of the State Government towards tiger conservation and inability of the forest department the life of rare species tiger is at threat especially the life of PTR tigers.
Dubey further said that a tiger that was caught in Bhopal was sent to PTR where a tigress died of dreaded CDV.
He said that the wildlife headquarters of the State has asked for the health check up of the tigers in a letter on September 2 this year to the PTR officials. “We demand that if the health check up report of the tigers has come then it should be made public besides it should also be brought to the knowledge of the public that what is the condition of the tigers of Panna and that what steps have been taken for the welfare of tigers” Dubey asked.
He said that this is a very sensitive issue because it is associated with the danger of other tigers of the state getting infected. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has issued an advisory in the year 2013 to the states’ to ensure safety of tigers. But the state government and its forest department did not acted on it, he added.
Dubey later talking to The Pioneer said, “My organization Prayatna has also filed a petition in the MPHC for the security of the tigers living in and around Bhopal and to provide safe corridor for them. We have opposed translocation of the tigers of Bhopal as we have come to know that the tigers living around the city would be caught and translocated to Satpura despite the fact that several cases of tiger poaching have been reported there, he added.