(IN): Pilibhit tiger shot by Hyderabad Nawab

[Guest guest]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Lucknow/Pilibhit-tiger-shot-by-Hyderabad-Nawa\

b/articleshow/4184872.cms

 

Pilibhit tiger shot by Hyderabad Nawab

25 Feb 2009, 0448 hrs IST, Neha Shukla, TNN

 

 

LUCKNOW: It was finally an `outsider' and not a forester who brought to an

end the three months long hunt for the young tiger. And, that has already

raised a question mark on the operation. The two-and-a-half-year old tiger

which moved out of Pilibhit forest on November 11 was shot down on Tuesday.

 

The confirmation came from the chief wildlife warden of UP, BK Patnaik that

the tiger has been killed. The young tiger was killed in Kumarganj forest

along Kutia Bachkuna village of Faizabad where it had been hiding since

December 27.

 

The sources shared that tiger was shot dead by the Hyderabadi nawab who had

joined the operation in Faizabad in January. Questions were raised on his

entry since the day one. The Project Tiger guidelines do not allow a

civilian and an outsider to be a part of the operation like the one that

took place in Faizabad. And some of the senior officials of the department

have already started questioning this.

 

The spot of operation is replete with rumours that all through his stay in

Kumarganj the man had indulged in hunting of the spotted deer in the

jungles. Shooting down of the tiger at the time when state does not have

more than 100 tigers remaining (the official census figure) has put the

department in an even tighter spot. It messed up the operation since start

and even an effort by the central authorities could not save the tiger.

 

To contest the department's claim that the tiger had turned a man-eater, the

fact that the feline had never come out of the forest to kill a human would

suffice. It had killed the men who had gone close to it inside the jungle.

The tiger was termed a man-eater after it killed a 14-year-old boy in

Bastauli village of Barabanki on December 20.

 

The success though came late for the foresters who had been chasing the

feline since December 13 when it had entered Gauriaghat village in

Gosainganj area of Lucknow district, it is not a well-deserved one. However,

all through its stay in Kumarganj it had preyed on the wildlife present

there. It was no longer a threat and department could have always made the

effort to trap it. Only time and the department can say if there is

something more to it than what meets the eye.

 

The feline had moved over Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur, Sitapur, Barabanki,

Lucknow and Faizabad. But, before it could move further it was killed. But,

the story is yet not over. The other one in Kheri is getting a similar

treatment by the department and soon it would be dead too. The tigers in UP

are in peril.

 

--

http://www.stopelephantpolo.com

http://www.freewebs.com/azamsiddiqui