Indian gaur knocked dead by tourist vehicle

Chandrapur: A full grown Indian guar was knocked dead by a speeding tourist vehicle on Padmapur-Moharli road leading to Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve through buffer zone on Sunday night. The carcass was recovered close to the third culvert in the shrubs by the road near Moharli on Monday morning.
Sources informed that a full grown male Indian gaur was crossing the road probably to go to a culvert near Moharli when it was knocked by an unidentified speeding tourist vehicle. The injured gaur, bleeding from the wounds, sat on the road for some time. Some other motorist heading out of Moharli towards Chandrapur saw the injured gaur and reported the matter at authorities at Padmapur gate of TATR. A rescue team was dispatched to the location, but by the time foresters reached the place, the guar had disappeared. The animal was found dead in the forest on Monday morning.

The incident has irked the wildlife activists. A delegation of NGO Eco-Pro, led by Nitin Buradkar, met deputy director, TATR (buffer) on Monday and submitted a memorandum demanding immediate construction of speed-breakers on the road between Moharli and Padmapur gate. The activists claimed that large scale tourism has been started in buffer zone too and hence the number of four-wheelers plying on Moharli-Padmapur stretch has increased manifold.

Increased tourism activities have also escalated the risk of accidents with wild animals crossing the road. Hence, to avoid such accidents in future, Eco-Pro has demanded speed-breakers and rumble-strip on Tadoba road between Moharli and Padmapur gate. The delegation also demanded restarting of CCTV vigilance at Padmapur gate.