Project Tiger officer visits Pilibhit to review injured big cat's rescue operation
The tigress with injured right front paw was spotted in Pilibhit.
PILIBHIT: The Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Project Tiger) in Uttar Pradesh,
Lalit Verma
, arrived at the
Pilibhit Tiger Reserve
(PTR) from Lucknow on Friday to review the rescue operation involving an injured tigress who has remained untraceable for the past five days despite her visible limp.
TOI
had reported on May 9 about the tigress's injury, which had significantly restricted her movement.
The tigress was first spotted on May 3 near the
Chuka tourist spot
in PTR by some tourists, who noticed an injury to her right front paw. A video of the tigress, captured by the tourists and widely shared on social media, led forest officials to seek permission from the state's Chief Wildlife Warden to tranquilise her for medical treatment.
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However, since May 4, she went missing, despite the PTR authorities' claims of constant surveillance using drone cameras, eight camera traps, and two elephants.
Verma told
TOI
that
surveillance strategies
had been revised. The number of camera traps was increased from eight to 24, and the search area was significantly expanded. The extended forest area will also be equipped with more camera traps.
Verma added that since three male tigers are already present in the tigress's territory, it is possible she dispersed into an adjacent part of the core forest.
However, there was still no trace of her as of Friday.
Wildlife enthusiasts have voiced concern through
TOI
about the forest department's ability to detect injured tigress in a timely manner. They fear that she may die of starvation due to her inability to chase and hunt prey.
Concerns have also been raised about the risk of poaching, citing the fragile safety conditions of the reserve, which is frequently breached by local villagers entering the core area to illegally collect forest produce.
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