Madhya Pradesh: Tiger avoids traps, makes third kill in Ashapura in Mhow

Mhow (Madhya Pradesh): The elusive tiger is on the prowl in Mhow for the last 18 days, evading traps set up by forest department and hunting at will.

On Wednesday, the tiger made its third kill in the area. This time its prey was a calf in Ashapura, which is around one-and-a-half kilometre from the spot of its second kill.

Though tiger movement was caught in cameras installed by the forest department, the feline never returned to its second kill in Malendi village.

Sub-divisional officer Kailash Joshi said that after tiger’s third kill, this time in Ashapura, the forest department has installed 10 cameras in Malendi, Ashapura and surrounding villages.

Divisional forest officer Narendra Pandawa said, “Our teams are monitoring tiger’s movement. The tiger has been caught on camera away from its hunting spot on Tuesday night. We want to force it away from rural area for the safety of both the villagers and the tiger.”

In fact, tiger’s erratic movement is giving headache to the forest department. Officials believe that the tiger has realised the traps set by them and was avoiding it.

Now, the forest department has set up cages on the outskirts of villages hoping that after seeing them the tiger would move towards the forest or get trapped. The forest department wants to trap the feline at the earliest so that its wounds could be treated. They fear that the wounds could limit tiger’s hunting skills and force it to turn to humans to satiate its hunger.