Indore (Madhya Pradesh): For the last four weeks, forest department teams are search for the elusive tiger in Mhow-Manpur forest range. Their failure and tiger’s penchant to make a kill at its free will in Malendi forest has left villagers petrified. The tiger recently killed in 60-year-old man, two bovines and a nilgai.
Sub-divisional officer, forest, Kailash Joshi said that four teams have been constituted by the department to track and trace the tiger. He said that these teams would patrol the forest round the clock and try to ascertain the elusive tiger’s territory.
Joshi said that the team would also search for big cat’s pugmarks. The villagers have been asked to immediately report tiger’s movement in their area. Four vehicles have been provided to the four teams comprising of ranger, deputy ranger, watchman and beat guard. The teams have been asked to submit daily report to headquarters.
Forest officials said that search for water and prey has brought the big cats to urban areas in Mhow causing havoc and now the forest department hopes that rain will bring relief to the and the cats will find their way back into the forest areas.
The tiger has been making headlines for over a month now, since he was first spotted in Army War College, Mhow. Forest minister Vijay Shah also held a meeting with senior officials over the big cat reportedly making a territory in the jungle of the Mhow-Manpur-Pithampur area.
DFO Narendra Pandwa said that the department had urged Satpura national park officials to provide them with trained elephants and experts to help trace the tiger. The forest department has provided compensation of Rs 8 lakh to the kin of the man killed by a tiger.
LEAPORD ALSO MARKS ITS PRESENCE
Other than the famous tiger, leopards in Mhow are also straying into human settlements. Recently, an operation was launched to rescue the leopard roaming in the Mhow Army area for three days.
To trap the leopard sitting on the tree, two darts were also fired from the tranquillizer gun, but the leopard ran away. Leaving the Army War College, the leopard has gone towards Kodaria village.
The forest department started the campaign at 4.30 pm. Six minutes later i.e. at 4.36 pm the leopard ran away. For the last two days, the leopard was roaming on the premises of the Army's Military College of Telecommunication Engineering. Pugmarks confirmed the leopard's presence on the MCTE premises. The question rises… why suddenly, the wild cats are straying into the college and human settlement areas. Divisional forest officer Narendra Pandwa said, “During summers, ponds dry out in the forest areas leaving all the animals thirsty and often hungry.” He added that the trouble of food is much more for herbivores.
“While looking for water, food and some relief from the scorching heat, animals often stray into urban areas after harsh summers,” Pandwa said. He added that as rains lash the areas and forests are moist again, the animals would return to the forest. “However, we are working to rescue the tiger and leopards to avoid human-animal conflict,” Pandwa said.
