Second tiger on prowl; no trace of man-eater

“The sniffer dogs will alert the members in case of an emergency and will also help in tracking the tiger. Our veterinary doctor is also present there to tranquilise the tiger,” said Kartick Satyanarayan,founder member of Wildlife SOS,which is also using GPS technology to assess the pattern of the big cat’s movement.

Officials said it’s nine-year-old male tiger that was first spotted on December 31 in Ghazipur. Since there is no tiger sanctuary near Ghazipur,it took officials by surprise.

They suspect the animal probably came from the Palamu Tiger reserve in Jharkhand or the Sanjay Dubri Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. Both of these are about 150 km away,and officials say the big cat could have travelled along water courses and rivers.

A few days ago,it set off panic among the villagers when it attacked a few people,killing one of them before disappearing in jungles. It also killed a few domestic and wild animals and resurfaced again a few days ago.

Forest Department officials say their hunt is being hampered for want of trained elephants. “There are only four trained elephants and they are being used to track the tiger. So,we had to use vehicles,” said District Forest Officer of Ghazipur NR Tiwari.

None of the two tigers have been spotted in the past few days. Divisional Forest Officer of Azamgarh PS Dubey said the tiger is moving in the north-west direction,heading towards Ambedkar Nagar,which is just 50 kilometre from Faizabad,where another man-eater is said to be moving in the jungles.

The tiger that strayed from Pilibhit forests has killed five people in the last three months. After it killed a boy on December 23 in Barabanki district,it was declared a man-eater. The order was cancelled following protests from National Tiger Conservation Authority,and several other organizations and wildlife lovers.

Teams of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII),Wildlife Trust of India (WTI),and Kanha National Park,Madhya Pradesh,then joined the efforts to trap the tiger,but failed and have now gone back,leaving the job to the Forest Department. On January 10,the tiger killed and ate another man in Faizabad and was again declared a man-eater.

On Saturday,it was seen in the Kotiyabakchuna forest area. “We searched the area for its pug marks and are trying to track it down. We have also started the night vigil in the area,” said Mahendra Singh,Conservator of Forest,Eco-Development,who is part of the combing team.