HC says ok to shoot but effort on to tranquillize tigress

Nagpur: At 9.30am on Thursday, tiger tracking expert Wasif Jamshed shot a dart with a tranquillizing gun at the tigress which had travelled 500 kms in 76 days. 60 minutes later, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court had upheld orders issued to shoot it.

"But, for the next 2-3 days our efforts will be to tranquillize and recapture the tigress," PCCF (wildlife) AK Misra told TOI on Thursday.

According to sources, the dart had fallen off as the tigress managed to run into the thickets near Bor Tiger Reserve. However, Misra did not confirm whether the dart was fired at the tigress and it missed. "I'm not aware about it," he said.

The top official added that another well-known tranquillizing expert from Madhya Paresh Dr Akhilesh Mishra, who has been part of several operations in MP, has joined the teams. Also in the team is Hyderabad's ace shooter Nawab Shafat Ali Khan and Lucknow's Wasif Jamshed.

The problem tigress is at the doorstep of Bor and is likely to enter the core area on Friday. With the tigress being in the territory of Bor's dominant male Bajirao, foresters are hoping the two would get together. Some villagers told TOI that they had sighted Bajirao in the same area three days ago.

On Thursday, the high court bench consisting of justices Bhushan Dharmadhikari and Swapna Joshi upheld the shoot orders stating that it was the same animal that killed four persons in nine incidents. This can be gauged from the radio collar locations of the animal and presence of no other tigers in the area.

The court dismissed the civil application by stating that no fault can be found in the findings of the forest department. Wildlife lover Dr Jerryl Banait through his lawyer Tushar Mandlekar had challenging the shoot orders issued on October 9, for the third time.

After reports of differences cropping up in the teams, hunter Khan was left isolated by the forest staff who are wanting to capture the tigress by tranquillizing it and not shoot it. Based on his complaint, Misra called a high-level meeting of officials concerned and also visited Kondhali where he addressed the field staff.

Misra denied there was any rift. "Even if Nawab is moving in the field during nights, our officials are with him and I have strictly said first priority will be capture and shoot orders will be executed after subsequent failures," he said.

The problem tigress was captured from Brahmapuri in Chandrapur district on July 10. The two-year-old was released in Navargaon area of Bor on July 29 in the hope that it would make a permanent home for itself.

Since May 17, 2017, in nine incidents, the problem tigress has mauled four persons and injured four.

An intensive search had been launched to track the animal with the help of two elephants summoned from Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh.