In one of the biggest operations launched in Uttarakhand in the recent past to kill a man-eater, a six-year-old tigress, who had killed two villagers and had injured five in Ramnagar villages, was shot dead on Thursday afternoon.
“Initially we thought a leopard had killed them,” Chief Wildlife Warden Digvijay Singh Khati said, adding that soon after it was found that a tigress had killed the two villagers, an order was issued to kill the man-eater.
Over 150 workers of the Forest Department, including five professional shooters, were put on the job.
In the past month, camera traps and cages were set, two drones were used to spot the tigress, a chopper was deployed for a short period to tranquilise her, elephants and hunting dogs were used, but to no effect. The elusive tigress was spotted a few times but she would always manage to escape.
Conservator of Forests (western circle) Parag Dhakate, who was leading the operation, said: “Our teams tried to tranquilise the tigress. Eight cages were set up at different locations in the 10-sq km area in Ramnagar, which is South of the Corbett National Park, where the tigress moved, but all attempts to tranquilise and rescue her failed. We had to finally shoot her.”
