A controversy has erupted over release of a tiger by the Forest Department in Bhimgad sanctuary, days after a big cat killed a woman in Chikmagalaur in Karnataka.b The experts argued that this tiger, which was raised in captivity, should have been transferred to the Bannerghatta zoo, and should not have been released in the wild, and that too close to a village. Petrified residents of Talawade in Karnataka are calling forest officials to recapture the tiger.
According to experts, “irresponsible releases do not aid tiger conservation, but turn people against tigers. Captive tigers or man-eaters should, under no circumstances, be released into the wild.” As per the reports, the tiger killed a 36-year-old woman on November 15 in Pandravalli in Chikmagalur.
Dr Ullas Karanth, a tiger expert at the Centre for Wildlife Studies in Bengaluru, has written to the chief wildlife warden of the State advising him that the stripe pattern of the captured tiger matched that of a tiger that spread chaos in the village.
As per the information received from the Centre’s database, the tiger has been identified as S5146, named Bhadra. Karnath cautioned and said that it appears the sub-adult tiger does not fear the humans and is dangerous. He also explained that the animal may be difficult to recapture as it may have become trap-shy.
According to Vidya Athreya, Wildlife Biologist, tigers raised in captivity do not fear or avoid humans. Set free, such big cats are attracted to people, who invariably panic at the sight of a tiger or leopard, react aggressively, and invite counter aggression. When released in the wild, they can be extremely dangerous, and willfully turn on people — either due to their inability to hunt wild animals, or upon discovering how easy it is to bring down humans
However, instead of taking the tiger to the zoo, forest officials tried to release the animal at Anshi Wildlife Sanctuary at night. When they were prevented by the villagers, it was released in the neighbouring sanctuary of Bhimgad. When villagers heard about it, they held the foresters hostage, demanding the tiger be captured and taken away.
There is a Standard Operating Procedure issued by National Tiger Authority of India (NTCA) to deal with tigers in such situations. The SOP says healthy tigers should be released “in a suitable habitat with adequate prey base, away from the territory of a resident male tiger (if any) or human settlements”.
Dr Karanth from Wildlife Conservation Society further said, “The numbers of big cats supported in any forest area is firmly set by the available prey numbers. There are very few situations in India where prey numbers indicate there is room for introducing big cats.”