A day after a boy was injured in a chance encounter with a leopard in Ramnagar area, an old woman, in a group of women returning home after collecting fodder from woods, was reportedly killed by a tiger.
Fear sparked among villagers following the woman's death in an encounter with a tiger reported on Tuesday.
local sources inform that women from the Talla Gojni village in the Ramnagar area of the Terai west forest division in Nainital district were returning home in a group with fodder collected from the woods in the Corbett tiger landscape during the daylight hours when the incident took place.
One of the women in the group identified as 65-year old village resident Govindi Devi, was reportedly attacked by a tiger purported to be lying in ambush in the bushes. Different versions of the incident spread in the public domain regarding the incident with some reports stating that the woman's partially consumed body was later found about 200 metres away in a sugarcane field to which the big cat had dragged it.
On the other hand some reports stated that the other women in the group were able to scare the big cat away by shouting and throwing stones on it.
local sources state that about an hour after the incident was stated to have been reported, the forest department personnel and police reached the site of the human-wildlife conflict incident -one in a series of chance encounters with different wild animals in the recent past.
The police were reported to have sent the body for post mortem though forest department staff concerned refused to divulge any specific information or even clear doubts regarding the incident.
When this correspondent repeatedly attempted to call the Terai west divisional forest officer Kahkashan Naseem, the mobile phone listed in the official directory was found to have been switched off.
After initial attempts to contact the staff concerned through the landline phone failed, contact could finally be established with the staff twice. However, in both the instances, staff of the Terai west divisional forest office neither confirmed nor denied reports about the incident, while also stating that the DFO would not be available on telephone to confirm the information sought.
It is pertinent to mention here that cases of chance encounters between humans and wildlife have been reported at a rising frequency from this region especially in recent times.
Departmental sources state that the higher ups had directed officials concerned to avoid steps which may result in "exaggerated reports" which may spread panic and in some cases could also prove detrimental to the wild animal in question.