The stray tiger spotted in Barabanki on Friday is yet to be caught but forest officials noticed its pugmarks in Tiwaripur village at Barabanki border, about 10 km from Lucknow.A department team has been trying to locate and trap the big cat but it has been constantly on the move through the dense sugarcane fields of the area. “We have alerted the villagers and asked them to inform us if they notice the tiger. We have also put our staff on an alert. The animal is barely 10 km away from Lucknow and it can cover this distance overnight,” said Ashok Mishra, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Lucknow. DFO Barabanki AP Tripathi said they have been combing the area but the tiger managed to move ahead. “Its pugmarks were last sighted in Tiwaripur village, 10 km from Chakla village where it was last seen. It has been around five days since the tiger made its last killing. It is hungry and should be on the hunt now, though it has not killed anyone yet,” said Tripathi. On Friday morning, the tiger was seen in Parashurampurwa, nearly six km from Chakla village. Later in the evening, its pugmarks were reported in Tiwaripur village, three km from Chakla. Forest officials have been deployed within a km of the area where it was last sighted. “The visibility is very poor due to fog but we have made lighting arrangements,” he added.Department officials said the tiger tried to attack a calf on Wednesday but was chased away by villagers. Hiding in the forests of Shahpur, nearly six km from Deva in Barabanki, the big cat even attacked a few villagers, who managed to escape. Forest officials believe that the tiger had strayed out of the Dudhwa National Park, nearly 300 km away. They have been tracking the animal for almost a fortnight, but it has remained elusive.
