Tiger killed in Wayanad was not a man-eater: Maneka

KOLLAM/WAYANAD, December 4, 2012

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/kerala/tiger-killing-triggers-a-storm/article4160564.ece#

Maneka says it was not a man-eater

The killing of a tiger, which had given sleepless nights to people in several villages of Wayanad district of Kerala over the past fortnight, has triggered an uproar within and outside the State.

A special task force of the Forest Department shot dead the tiger inside a coffee plantation near Moolamkavu on Sunday after it ventured out of the forest and lifted over a dozen cattle from the neighbouring villages. Green activists in the State are up in arms against the killing and have threatened to move the Kerala High Court on the issue.People for Animals (PFA) chairperson Maneka Gandhi said “the incident creates a sound base to wind up the Wildlife Department.”

Talking to The Hindu on the phone from the PFA headquarters in New Delhi on Monday, she said the tiger was not a man-eater and there was no reason to kill it. A so-called special task force was deployed to “capture” the tiger and “not to kill it.” It could have been easily captured and relocated.

According to the Forest Department, it all happened because an uncontrollable crowd followed the task force inside the forests. This made it clear that the authorities had encouraged people to come inside the forests and witness the operation. “The operation should have been one to save the tiger and not to eliminate it,” she said.

The incident conveyed a message that Kerala had got used to killing its wildlife treasures without giving any forethought. “The State has a Wildlife Department which either takes bad decisions or no decisions,” she said.

Probe ordered

When contacted, a top forest officer, who did not wish to be quoted, said the department had ordered a high-level probe into the incident. The probe would focus on whether shooting the tiger at that point of time could be justified.

The officer said the task force adhered to all rules and tried its best to tranquilise, capture and relocate the tiger. But the crowd was simply unmanageable.

E. Kunhikrishnan, wildlife enthusiast and professor at University College, Thiruvananthapuram, told The Hindu that the Forest Department had done its best to save the tiger. But the tragedy occurred because of the mob.

However, there was some lack of professionalism in administering the tranquiliser shots. Tigers had been easily tranquilised and relocated in other parts of the country. It also appeared puzzling how the whole incident got videographed as though it was a documentary, Professor Kunhikrishnan said.

Veterinary surgeon and technical expert of the Kollam unit of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals B. Aravind, who had tranquilised and brought under control several captive elephants that ran amok, said there appeared to have been some technical failure in the tranquiliser shots. He blamed the mob for the situation.

It would take at least 10 minutes for the tiger to swoon. The mob made the tiger wary and defensive when it experienced the pain of the tranquiliser shot, Dr. Aravind said.

Keywords: tiger killing, Maneka Gandhi, man-eater, man-animal conflict, Forest Department

 

Who is afraid of tigers in Wayanad?

By Manoj K Das, TNN | Nov 21, 2012, 03.59 AM IST

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

READ MORE Wayanad|V Gopinathan|Muthanga

The Forest Department thinks that the queries reflect a bigger plan for land grab in the area by creating the bogey of a tiger reserve destabilising lives in the neighbourhood.

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KOCHI: Do we’ve to paint our houses and shops in wild green if Wayanad is declared a tiger reserve? Do we have to keep a vessel filled with water every night for tigers to drink and turn on all lights around the house?

These are some of the RTI questions posed to forest top brass ever since rumours about an impending declaration of Wayanad as a tiger reserve went viral. But the Forest Department thinks that the queries reflect a bigger plan for land grab in the area by creating the bogey of a tiger reserve destabilising lives in the neighbourhood.

Citing other RTI queries to substantiate this, a senior officer told TOI that “most of the queries seek details of land owners who are voluntarily surrendering their holding for facilitating the demarcation of the proposed reserve”.

Ironically, these questions are flooding the department when there is absolutely no move to declare the area a tiger reserve. “Another questioner wants to know restrictions that would be imposed on construction activities. Yet another query has demanded all details of our rehabilitation plan,” he said.

Three other questions seek a detailed map of the area indicating various zones like buffer, core, etc. “We strongly feel that this is part of an orchestrated campaign,” a source told TOI.

A report from Wayanad submitted by D K Varma, CCF, northern circle, has stated that “the presence of miscreants who are misleading the local population needs to be probed.” Their instigation is the main reason for agitations turning unusually violent of late. The CCF also noted mischievous spread of rumours like how a circus company had let its tigers free in Muthanga thus leading to widespread panic. A trigger for the rumour mongering is the recent spate of cattle lifting by tigers. That is no new phenomenon in Wayanad.

Cattle-killer to be hunted down

Given the high possibility of the cattle-killer tiger of Wayanad turning into a man-eater, the forest department has decided to hunt it down.

V Gopinathan, CCF, in an order issued on Tuesday said a five-member team will ascertain its identity before hunting it by tranquilizing or using cages and “failing which by other means”.