Tigress shot dead in Nagpur

Twenty-seven days after it first killed a woman in Dighori in Bhandara district and seven days after it was ordered to be shot when it claimed its fifth victim, the man-eating big cat was gunned down by C-60 commandos of the anti-Naxal squad with AK47 rifles on Saturday at 1.25pm. Contrary to belief, the animal turned out to be a young tigress and not a male.
Gondia deputy conservator of forests (Dy CF) SV Ramarao said the animal, which was not more than three years old, was shot in the forest adjoining Sonzari-Malda village. The spot is hardly 1.5 km from the village and 20 km from the Navegaon National Park boundary. The park is about 130 kms from Nagpur
“We first tried to tranquillize the tigress but as we missed, it charged on the team. Scared by the attack, one of the commandos Suresh Atram fired nine rounds to kill the animal. It was advancing menacingly towards us even after being hit by a few bullets,” Ramarao said. State chief wildlife warden SWH Naqvi had granted permission to shoot the animal on January 4.
An emotionally charged Atram, it is learnt, was sobbing away beside the body of the tigress. “He was continuously muttering ‘mala maaf kara sahib’ (please pardon me),” said Sawan Bahekar, the honorary wildlife warden of Gondia district, who was at the spot.The elusive tigress had killed a cow on January 10 and continued to move in the area. To establish the identity of the animal, camera traps were deployed near the carcass.
Wildlife experts fear that the mother of the tigress might be in the vicinity and could cause problems. They are hoping that the forest department continues to maintain a vigil.