Tipeshwar tigress released in wild after treatment for snare injury

Nagpur: The four-year-old Tipeshwar tigress, which had suffered deep wire snare injury in her front leg, was successfully released into the wild after 12 days of treatment inside the wildlife sanctuary.
The tigress was rescued by wildlife veterinarian Dr Chetan Patond on April 21 and released on May 2. T2-C1 was first sighted in injured condition inside the sanctuary by the patrolling staff on April 18.
TOI had on April 21 reported tigress T2-C1, which was one of the offspring of the second litter of park’s dominating tigress T2, was seen limping by the patrolling staff on April 18. “A wire snare was observed in her leg. The snare was not of metal but a strong rope generally used for rappelling and climbing purposes,” said DFO Subhash Puranik.
Puranik said, “The rope was so tightly stuck that had it not been removed the forelimb would have to be amputated. There is a wound and swelling on the leg and the tigress was unable to stand on four legs. It was released after the wound healed. Immediately after the tigress was released it approached a waterhole and relaxed.”
This is the second incident in the last two years where a tiger was entangled in a wire snare and successfully released in the wild. In May 2019, a male tiger cub was rescued and its snare was removed.
The 148 sq km Tipeshwar sanctuary, 180km from Nagpur, near Pandharkawda, has an old history of snares being laid by local poachers to kill herbivores like deer, wild boar, and chitals for bushmeat.
Tigers come into contact with these snares leaving them injured. There are 14 villages bordering the sanctuary. This is the fourth recorded case from Tipeshwar where a tiger was entangled in wire snares.