Shoot at sight order was issued on Friday against a man-eater tiger in Bihar after the animal was suspected to have killed seven people, including a 12-year-old girl, near Chiwtahan and Govardhan forest area in past 25 days.
A team of forest officials — sharpshooters, trackers and veterinary experts of the State —have been trying to catch the tiger for past six days but the man-eater has continued to wreak havoc in the area.
Neshamani K., Field Director of the Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR), said that Bihar Chief Wildlife Warden P.K. Gupta has issued orders to shoot the tiger. A team of about 500 forest officials have reached near Dumri village to locate the tiger; a drone has also been deployed to track the animal, said officials.
“The tiger is of about 3.5 years old and has been killing people in the area since September 12. The Bihar government has given order to shoot the tiger at sight which has become dangerous for the local people”, a forest official involved in the operation told local media persons.
On Friday, in Damro Govadhan village under Ram Nagar police station, the tiger dragged a villager — Sanjay Mahto, 35 — to a dense sugarcane field when he had gone to relieve himself in the open nearby. According to the locals, the man had bite marks around his neck and his neck bone had been broken.
The incident spurred the villagers into a rampage, causing them to demonstrate their protest against the forest department. They manhandled a few of the officials, including range officer Sujeet Kumar, and damaged a vehicle belonging to the department.
The tiger is suspected to have killed a 12-year old girl on Thursday night, while she had been sleeping in her home in Sinhi village under Baghi Panchayat. “We were close to trapping the tiger twice in past 20-days but failed,” said a forest official.
Valmiki National Park in West Champaran district of Bihar is the only national park in the State. It covers 17.4% (898.45 km) of the total geographical expanse of the district. According to tiger census of 2018, there were 40 tigers in the reserve.
