Maneater netted, bid now on to catch last tiger

Express News Service Posted: Mar 14, 2009 at 0240 hrs

Lucknow: The state forest department has now woken up to the stray tiger in Basti district, efforts to trap and tranquilise it will start next week.

The tiger has been on the move since December 31. But efforts to tranquilise it began only after it travelled across Ghazipur, Varanasi, Chandauli, Azamgarh, Ambedkar Nagar districts and injured two villagers.

The change in strategy was brought after repeated efforts of providing it a safe passage to the Tikri jungle area in the adjoining Gonda district failed.

Earlier this week, the ongoing work on the NH-28 in the area at night was halted, so the animal can cross over to Tikri. But it was in vain.

“We will be completely focused on this tiger now as it is not taking the passage to the jungle. We will try to tranquilise it as it is roaming human habitation,” said BK Patnaik, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, (Wildlife), Uttar Pradesh.

The officials from the Dudhwa National Park and Sohelwa have already been asked to assist in the operation. Officials from Wildlife Trust of India, which successfully helped tranquilise the Lakhimpur Kheri tiger earlier this month, will also be helping.

“The tiger is in Sitaram Manjha area in Basti district and we hope it stays there so we can tranquilise it,” said a senior forest department official.

While the animal had crossed over to Faizabad district on February 27, its presence was once again confirmed in Sitaram Manjha area in Basti district.

It is the only tiger on the move in the state now. Of the other two — which had turned maneaters — one was killed in Faizabad and the other was tranquilised and caught in Lakhimpur Kheri.

The Basti tiger had entered Uttar Pradesh on December 31 through Ghazipur and attacked villagers in Ghazipur and Basti. On January 3, it reportedly surfaced in Bihar’s Kaimur district.

But a day later, its pug marks were once again sighted in Chandauli

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