Tiger mauls cowherd near Tadoba reserve

Saturday December 8, 01:22 AM

Even before the storm over the tiger-human conflict in the Talodhi forest range of Chandrapur could subside, a big cat mauled a cowherd in the nearby Chimur range on Thursday evening. The Chimur range also falls in the Brahmapuri Forest Division and is part of the buffer area of the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR).

With this, the number of people killed in tiger attacks around TATR in the past two years has gone up to 24, while around 12 persons have been injured. Highlighting the intensity of the man-animal conflict around TATR, two leopard attacks were also reported on Wednesday and Thursday.

"Tanaji Chindhu Raut (30) of Navtala village was apparently attacked by the tiger as he was herding his cattle back to the village. He had gone out alone, unlike others who have been moving into the forest in groups because of the tiger sightings in the area," Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Hrishikesh Ranjan told The Indian Express.

Ranjan said the villagers were aware of tiger presence in the forest and cautious while venturing out. "Tanaji made a mistake going alone," he added. "The tiger only dragged the body up to 75 metres, but there was no visible attempt to eat it," Ranjan said.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/071207/48/6o737.html