PILIBHIT: A five-year-old tiger that had attacked and injured five persons over the weekend, died 15 minutes after it was tranquilised at the Jari village on Sunday evening in the Pilibhit Tiger reserve (PTR). The forest officials claimed that the big cat died of wounds, some wildlife activists suspect that it died due to overdose of tranquilizers.
The tiger had strayed out of the range of Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) and attacked three people in Jari village under Gajraula police circle on Friday morning. It had also attacked a team of forest force personnel that had come to drive it back to the reserve. The presence of the tiger had brought agricultural activities to a virtual standstill at Jari village.
A team of forest personnel that was camping in the village, had been closely monitoring the tiger’s movement by installing camera traps in the area. A team of veterinary officers, headed by doctor S.K. Rathore, also arrived in the village on Sunday in order to tranquilize the tiger and later release into the wild. The tiger was spotted and tranquilizer darts were fired on it. But the big cat died within 15 minutes after it was tranquilised.
Deputy director of PTR Naveen Khandelwal said the tiger collapsed during the period it was under medical observation. “The tiger had three wounds in its trachea, as a result of which it died,” he said. Kaushlendra Singh, a wildlife activist in Lucknow, however, said that the tiger’s death was due to an overdose of tranquiliser.
Referring to information of forest staff present at the spot during the operation, Singh claimed that the tiger was hit with four darts. one after another. Chief conservator of Bareilly zone, Lalit Verma, had told reporters that the veterinary team used only two darts in the operation.
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