Families near Mhadei sanctuary continue to face threats from wild

Keri: With a calf recently killed by a wild animal in Golauli, two families living at the foothills of the Western Ghats continue to face threats from the wild.
Vitho Zipo Pavane, a co-accused in January’s tiger-killing case, told TOI that although his calf had been killed, he did not claim compensation. “Nothing except two bones was left, which is why I did not apply for compensation,” he said.
Of the three Dhangar families living in the vicinity of the forested areas in the Valpoi range, two earn their livelihood through the milking cows and buffaloes. They have no other source of income. Despite the threat from wild animals, the families have preferred to live in Golauli as two perennial springs provide drinking water, and food and fodder is available. During grazing, however, their bovines frequently stray into the forests of the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary, becoming easy prey for wild animals.
The pastoral village was in the news in the first week of January after the carcasses of four big cats — a tigress, two cubs and one sub-adult tiger — were found in a highly decomposed condition. Through the Alisa test kit, the samples of all four tigers indicated that they had been poisoned.
Following investigations, it was revealed that after the tigress had killed a cow and buffalo, the villagers had poisoned the carcass of the buffalo and left it in the forest. The forest department then arrested Malo Nago Pavane, Vitho Zipo Pavane, Bomo Nago Pavane, Jyotiba Malo Pavane and Biro Vitho Pavane, all residents of Golauli. The five accused were later released on bail.