The Corbett tiger reserve authorities have alerted local residents and tourists, apart from starting patrol on elephant-back in the Dhikuli area, after a horse was preyed upon by a tiger on Friday.
The officials emphasise that the killing of the equine by a tiger is being viewed as a case of the tiger acting on its natural predatory instinct and not as an abnormal occurrence. However, department staff is maintaining vigilance and patrolling to identify the big cat and mitigate human-wildlife conflict considering the proximity of the kill site to human habitation.
Talking to The Pioneer, the Corbett tiger reserve deputy director Saket Badola informed that a horse was preyed upon by a tiger on Friday, after which the department has alerted villagers in Dhikuli and management of resorts in the area to observe precautions and desist from risky movement in the jungle area especially after sunset.
The horse, owned by one of the locals, was let out to graze by its handler on Friday near Dhikuli when the equine ventured deeper into the woods where it was preyed upon by the tiger.
“We have alerted the villagers and managers of tourist lodges asking them to observe necessary precautions and desist from risky movements. Our staff including the armed personnel is alert and monitoring the area while also conducting patrol on elephant,” said Badola, adding that a big cat preying upon a horse straying into the woods is not an abnormal scenario.
However, since the site where the equine was killed by the tiger is not far from the main road the department is taking additional measures to identify the big cat in question and mitigate probability of a human-wildlife conflict incident.
Badola further informed, “The bushes near human residence are being cleared away to clear visibility. We have also told local residents and staff who walk back to their homes after sunset to avoid actions which may land them in a dangerous situation especially in forest areas with dense cover known to be risky for humans. Apart from our armed staff and elephant patrol we are also installing a camera trap near the site to help identify the tiger which killed the horse.”
The Corbett deputy director also reiterated that though the incident is not an abnormal case, locals and visitors have been alerted to observe precaution with additional measures being taken by the forest department to mitigate the probability of an undesirable chance encounter between the big cat and humans.