Injured Tadoba tigress exposes poor monitoring by forest staff
| Date :03-Apr-2019 |
By Ramesh Marulkar:
POOR monitoring by field staff members was once again exposed in Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) when the management came to know about a tigress sustaining deep injuries on her neck in Kolsa Forest Range after two days. In fact, it is because of tourists that the officers came to know about the injured tigress. While talking to ‘The Hitavada’ on Tuesday, N R Praveen, Field Director, Chandrapur, said that he came to know about the incident on Tuesday only. Suresh Wankhede, a tourist and member of Conservation of Lenses and Wildlife (CLaW) from Gadchiroli, clicked the picture of this injured tigress (Shivanzari female) during jungle safari at Shivanzari lake on Sunday morning. It soon went viral on social media.
Newspapers also published the news and photograph of the injured tigress with serious injuries on Tuesday. It was only then the management came to know about the incident. This is happening on many occasions when the field staff notice decomposed bodies of tigers or other wild animals after three/four days, raising questions on their monitoring/patrolling.
It also exposes poor foot patrolling in the jungle by beat guards. Intitially, Praveen was not ready to accept that the tigress received injuries due to wire snare and believed in the theory of territorial fight with another carnivore. Previously, the famous Matkasur tiger also sustained injuries in territorial fight, which is common in view of tiger density in the park. The tiger recovered in a natural way after some days. Same was the case of a limping tigress.
“The carnivores stray towards agriculture fields, human settlements and even outside but keep coming back,” Praveen said. About treatment to Shivanzari female, Praveen said a team consisting of veterinarian Dr Ravikant Khobragade, Rapid Response Team members and field staff on Tuesday started tracking the injured beast but found no location.
“Once located, the veterinarian would decide extent of the injuries and if required tranquilise for treatment,” he added. As the pictures showed, the injured female cannot even lick the wound to heal that calls for capturing and treating her immediately. Gopalrao Thosar, senior environmentalist, criticised poor monitoring and demanded that the management should immediately start providing treatment to the tigress. When contacted, Nitin Kakodkar, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), said that the officers have started taking necessary steps to provide relief to the distressed tigress.