15 Oct, 2010, 07.07PM IST,PTI
Captured man eater sent to Lucknow Zoo



LUCKNOW: A man eater tiger, captured after killing eight people in the forests of Uttar Pradesh in the last six months, has been sent to the Lucknow Zoo for rehabilitation.

The sub-adult male big cat, which had kept wildlife officials and villagers on tenterhooks since May while evading baits and dart attempts, was trapped yesterday.

"The tiger has been brought to Lucknow zoo, where it has been kept in isolation and observation after medical examination," forest department official Sukhjinder Singh said.

A team of UP forest department officials who were assisted by experts from New Delhi-based NGO Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) caught the predator when it was hiding in an isolated patch of vegetation in Nagla Hira Singh village in Farrukhabad forest division.

It was darted thrice, even as a huge crowd gathered around the animal's refuge, pelting it with stones. Several people were injured and one was severely mauled.

"We identified the tiger as the one that we were tracking by comparing its stripe pattern to photographs taken in previous capture attempts and also by comparing its pugmarks with those traced earlier," said DFO, Shahjehanpur Forest Division , P P Singh who led the team.

Known to have wandered off Pilibhit Forest Division near the Indo-Nepal border, the tiger claimed its first victim on May 4. Over the months, it moved south through Pilibhit, Shahjehanpur, South Kheri, Hardoi and Farrukhabad Forest Divisions. Till August 26, it killed eight people.

However, the experts do not consider the tiger an obligate man-eater.

"It is extremely unfortunate that eight people lost their lives. Yet, the tiger was not exclusively attacking humans but was also predating on wild prey like blue bull, spotted deer, wild boar and black buck. Moreover, the human victims were killed within forested areas," said WTI biologist Milind Pariwakam.

"The rapid response group comprised three teams working in close coordination. A village-level vigilance team including local people, forest department staff worked closely with the affected villagers while creating awareness among them," said Anil Kumar Singh, Head of WTI's Conflict Mitigation division.

"It was not easy to dart the feline as it was becoming increasingly difficult to capture as it was getting more wary with every attempt. Moreover, there were other challenges to counter, like rains washing away evidence of the tiger and assuaging public frustration," he said.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Kathi:
15 Oct, 2010, 07.07PM IST,PTI
Captured man eater sent to Lucknow Zoo



LUCKNOW: A man eater tiger, captured after killing eight people in the forests of Uttar Pradesh in the last six months, has been sent to the Lucknow Zoo for rehabilitation. QUOTE]

They have Californians in India also???

quote:

It was darted thrice, even as a huge crowd gathered around the animal's refuge, pelting it with stones. Several people were injured and one was severely mauled

Weird.

Several things about this press release don't make much sense. I wonder if this young tiger may have been released to the wild under Gov't auspices.

quote:

Several people were injured and one was severely mauled

Tigers are dangerous,who knew