Tigress
killed by poachers
http://www.the-hindu.com/stories/0408201a.htm
By Our Staff Reporter
KURNOOL, FEB. 7. A three-and-a-half-year-old tigress
has been killed by unidentified poachers in Nallamala
forest, near Bairluti in Kurnool district. Suspected
to have been caught in the noose laid by poachers on
Monday night, the carcass of the female tiger,
weighing about 150 kg, was recovered from a pond,
known as Gosaikatta in Nagaluti Forest Range, by
officials of Srisailam-Nagarjuna Sagar Tiger Reserve
yesterday.
The poachers chopped off three legs (two hind legs and
the left fore leg) and took out two nails out of five
from the right fore leg. The neck portion of the big
cat was badly damaged as the noose, obviously made of
strong cables used in motor bikes, got tightened. The
skin was intact with the animal killers making no
attempt to peel it off.
The Field Director and Conservator of Forests, Mr. M.
Pridhviraj, the head of the country's biggest tiger
reserve, observed that the killers were not
professional poachers, but small-time poachers who
hunted deer, rabbits, wild boars and other animals for
meat. The tiger was suspected to have been
accidentally caught in the noose laid for other
animals and got killed. The poachers made no attempt
to peel off the skin, which is valued up to Rs. 6
lakhs in the market. However, they took out two
nails from one leg, chopped off and taken away three
other legs.
Supporting the unintentional trapping theory, Mr.
Pridhviraj said no professional smuggler of wild life
products would try to chop off legs because it would
bring down the value of the skin. For a full price,
the skin has to be complete. The eye balls of the
animal were scooped out and tongue was protruding. The
animal was 75 cm tall and 2.36 metre long. He said
five teams had been constituted to nab the culprits.
Several persons were rounded up for interrogation. The
pond from which the animal was recovered was
surrounded by Venakatapuram, Sidhapuram, S.N. Tanda
and Nagalutigudem villages.
Poaching activity has
been rampant in the cluster of villages with the meat of spotted deer
sambar being sold at Rs. 30 a kg while the meat of wild boar was
available at Rs. 20. However, incidents of poaching of tigers has not
been reported so far. Explaining the events leading to the detection of
the dead tigress, Mr. Pridhviraj said the forest watcher of Venkatapuram
beat reported the incident to the Divisional Forest Officer, Mr.
B.K. Singh, on Tuesday evening, who in turn alerted the Field Director
at Srisailam. A team of officials led by Mr. Singh swung into action by
sending teams into villages. A team of veterinarians from the Animal
Husbandry Department conducted the post-mortem on the animal at the
Bairluti Guest House on Wednesday. Later, it was buried near the Guest
House. Mr. Pridhviraj, the Assistant Conservator of Forests,
Bio-diversity, Mr. K. Tulasi Rao and others paid floral tributes before
the animal was buried.
The Tiger Reserve Force,
comprising 400 men, were badly shaken by the incident. The killing
occurred at a time when the tiger population was stagnated at 51 as per
the 1999 census. The sanctuary is spread in 4,500 square kilometres of
Nallamala forest range in Kurnool, Prakasam, Guntur, Nalgonda and
Mahabubnagar districts. The tiger population in Mannanur area of
Mahabubnagar district depleted due to man-animal conflict. The number
declined to 34 in 1993.
