Two months on, Warora tigress still moving with wire snare in Chandrapur forest

NAGPUR: Even after two months, Chandrapur forest officials have failed to capture a five-year-old tigress moving in Salori forest of Warora range with a wire snare stuck in her neck.
Images show the big cat has suffered wounds around the neck and is in distress.
It is also feared that the tigress is pregnant. “It is possible that the tigress may be pregnant, but our priority is to capture the animal and treat her before releasing it the wild,” said NR Praveen, chief conservator of forests (CCF), Chandrapur.
The tigress with a wire snare was first sighted on May 23. It is almost two months, neither the tigress has been captured, nor any accused persons have been nabbed for laying the wire snares. The tigress is moving in Warora and adjoining Bhadravati ranges.
Sources said the snares, a regular practice by locals to poach herbivores for bushmeat, were suspected to have been laid by Palasgaon (Shingru) villagers, who were relocated on zudpi jungle land near Salori two years ago.
In April 2019, some villagers from Palasgaon (Shingru) were held for the death of a tigress entangled in a steel wire trap in Khatoda inside Tadoba. During that period, the village was in the process of being relocated. “Now, it seems, the same poaching tricks are being used to kill wild animals here,” said sources.
Praveen admits there are three tigers, leopards, and other wild animal species in the Salori forest, which is contiguous with the buffer zone of Tadoba. “Our teams are trying hard to capture the tigress. Besides, forest cover has grown dense due to rains, making our task difficult. A day before our team was sitting on a machan waiting for the tigress to come for a bait it had killed, but the animal turned up after 6.30pm, minutes after the team had left waiting for the entire day,” said the CCF.
Praveen added, “We have been recording pictures of the tigress on camera trap, but it is avoiding humans. Perhaps, we erred earlier by deploying too many people to capture the tigress, causing commotion. Now, we have restricted the numbers to two small rescue teams including a tracker, sharpshooter, and a wildlife vet. We expect to capture the animal soon. Even during rains, the capture operation is continuing.”
Vishal More, president of All People’s Admire Society (APAS), an NGO from Warora working to save wildlife, alleged that Warora RFO Madhukar Rathod messed up the entire operation by not acting in time. No efforts were taken to nab the culprits who laid the wire traps, he said.
Rathod was unavailable for comments.
“There is lack of coordination between the RFO and staff under him, which has created the mess. Who had stopped the forest teams to capture the tigress in May and June when there were no rains and visibility was clear. A lot of time was wasted due to the indifferent approach of forest staff. Now, the neck wound of the tigress has worsened and is clearly visible,” said More.