Escaped UP tiger tracked in Unnao
Forest department teams sent to tranquilise the predator
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-11-16 00:53 GMT
Lucknow: The stray tiger, who has been unleashing terror on the outskirts of Lucknow since the past one month, has finally been tracked to the Unnao district and forest officials, on Saturday, launched ‘Operation Badshah’ to trap the big cat.Pug marks of the tiger were seen in Siloli village at Unnao and Avadh division, chief conservator Eva Sharma said that the stray tiger was in the thick forest patches of the village in Unnao.
A team from the forest department, headed by tranquilising expert Utkarsh Shukla, has already reached the village and operations to cage the tiger have begun. Ms Sharma said the forest staff was alert about the presence of the tiger which attacked and preyed upon a small calf that had been kept as a bait. “We have already sent the cages from the Lucknow Zoo and two elephants will be arriving at the village from Dudhwa to help in the operations,” the forest official said.
She said the tiger was ‘localised’ and the very fact that it ate only a part of the bait means that it would return for the same bait. All efforts would be made to tranquilise it.The tiger had strayed from the Dudhwa National Park on October 15 and had moved towards Sitapur and then to Malihabad on the outskirts of Lucknow.
Meanwhile, the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve opened for tourists on Saturday.The tourist season in Dudhwa Tiger, comprising Dudhwa National Park, Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary and Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, commences on November 15 and closes on June 15 every year.