12-05-2025
UP forest authorities seek help of U'khand officials to trace injured tigress missing for over a week from PTR
Pilibhit: After eight days of unsuccessful attempts to rescue an injured tigress in the Mahof forest range of
Pilibhit Tiger Reserve
(PTR), officials have now sought assistance from their counterparts in Uttarakhand to help trace the elusive big injured tigress was first spotted on May 3 near the Chuka tourist zone, limping badly due to an injury to her right paw.
A video taken by tourists was circulated widely on social media, prompting PTR authorities to seek urgent permission from the state's chief wildlife warden to tranquilise and treat was granted the same day, and a rescue operation was launched with eight camera traps, thermal drone surveillance, and two elephants accompanying forest teams. The tigress was last seen on May 4 and has remained untraceable May 9, Lalit Verma, additional chief conservator of forests (Project Tiger), visited PTR to assess the rescue operation. Following his review, the number of camera traps was increased from eight to 24, and the search area was widened to nearby forest suspect the tigress may have fled to adjoining forest zones, possibly driven by threats from three male tigers occupying the same field director Vijay Singh has now reached out to officials of Uttarakhand's Terai East forest division, as the Surai forest range, which shares a 24km interface with Mahof, could be a likely refuge for the tigress. "We have spoken to our counterparts in Uttarakhand, and they have agreed to conduct a joint search. Meanwhile, we will continue our efforts within PTR," said the collaboration, Sanjita Verma, sub-divisional forest officer of Terai East, told TOI, "A meeting with our field staff is scheduled for Tuesday to finalise the rescue strategy. We have already installed 20 camera traps in Surai to monitor a tigress with a metallic snare embedded in her lumbosacral region, and they may help us detect the PTR tigress too."The search for the injured tigress intensified on Monday with more forest personnel deployed from PTR's four other ranges. Meanwhile, wildlife experts have voiced concern over the tigress's survival. Some fear she may have succumbed to starvation, unable to hunt due to her injury. Others have not ruled out the possibility of poaching, citing "inadequate security" in PTR.
