While the officials continue their attempts to identify and cage the tiger suspected to be responsible for recently killing a man near the Dhikuli village in Corbett tiger reserve’s Sarpdhuli range, the Corbett honourary warden Brijendra Singh has stressed on the need for developing a rehabilitation centre cum safari park for keeping tigers liable to turn man-eaters instead of shooting such big cats.
It will be recalled that a man was killed in Sarpdhuli range on March 25 and to trace the big cat responsible, the Corbett administration has installed two cages and 10 camera traps. According to Singh, measures needed to tackle a tiger which takes to attacking humans depend on the specific tiger. “In some cases prompt and extreme action is required against one such tiger so that other tigers can be protected because once the villagers become antagonised, the situation can prove more detrimental to the tiger population. I believe that an old male tiger who has turned very daring and does not hesitate from attacking humans in responsible for the latest kill. Instead of killing such a tiger, it would be better if such big cats could be kept in a rehabilitation centre cum safari park,” he said.
Singh who was involved in the first capture in the region of a man-eater tiger called the Bagajala man-eater which was then kept in the lucknow zoo during the late 70s, said that developing a rehabilitation centre cum safari park for such tigers would be a better alternative for the animal than a zoo or being shot. “If kept in such a facility instead of being kept in a small cage in the zoo, the big cats can generate enough income to facilitate their upkeep and it will be better than being kept in a zoo or being shot. I have been raising this issue for years and have submitted proposals too but no one seems to be interested in facilitating such a development,” Singh rued.