K4 tigress too smart to handle
The tigress has avoided eight baits that were arranged to capture it.
Hyderabad: Forest officials and wildlife experts are struggling to save K4, a tigress that is wandering in the jungles with a metal wire around its waist. For about a year, K4 has outwitted forest officials and has evaded six teams looking for it.
Forest officials believe K4 is the cleverest animal they have encountered yet, as it is avoiding baits and camera traps. K4 is not even revisiting the site of its prey for a second time, unlike other tigers. The forest department is ready with portable scaffolding to help wildlife experts capture it.
The tigress has avoided eight baits that were arranged to capture it. It has also not been spotted in 110 camera traps that were fixed to track its movement. The camera traps had their last glimpse of K4 in June.
For the last one year, K4 was only sighted four times in camera traps. The only way officials know that K4 is on the prowl is by her pugmarks, challenging the six teams that have been deployed to track her.
Usually a tiger marks out its own zone that is 70 to 80 sq km, but K4 has marked out a territory that is 200 to 250 sq km. There are no other tigers nearby, which has helped K4 roam freely.
Normally, tigers after they kill a prey eat till they are satiated and leave the remaining flesh for another day and revisit the place. K4 has attacked several cattle in the forest fringes, but has never returned for the remaining flesh.
“It seems to be avoiding the bait and camera traps and is not revisiting the site of her hunt. All these show the intelligence of K4. But, we are happy that the wire at her waist is not bothering her as of now. We are working hard to find it so as to cut off the wire, which would be a life threat to her,” officer on special duty and wildlife expert Shankaran said.
He expects to capture the tiger as six teams each consisting of five members are tracking it.
He said, “The plan to capture K4 is still under progress. We want it to hunt the bait that we have arranged, and revisit the kill. If we notice that the bait has been killed, we will set up a machan (scaffolding) and tranquilise K4.”
The plan is to then to remove the wire.
“We have purchased the machan from Maharashtra that is worth around Rs 80,000. There are some new proposals of using a perfume to attract it. But the decision was not taken and it was left to the committee to decide. We are ready to take up all possible ways to save K4.”