Mitigate man-animal conflict: tiger conservation authority

Chhattisgarh tigress could have been saved from mob death on September 24

Following investigation into the killing of a tigress by the residents of village Bakhrutola in Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh on September 24, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) assistant inspector general, Sanjay Pathak, has said that better coordination between the revenue, forest and police departments could have prevented the incident.

The tigress, which had been released by the Maharashtra forest department in the Navegaonbandh National Park close to the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border after being treated for injuries, had been moving close to villages for several weeks
The area in which the animal was finally killed was naxalite-affected, it was not possible for the department to send more than five guards to the site. The guards were helpless against the 5,000 strong mob which had collected to kill the tigress, says NTCA
The entire responsibility of rescuing the tigress was left to the lower staff and no senior official made any move, say activists
Despite killing 19 domestic animals in 57 days, officials did not think it necessary to check the movements of the animal
Forest personnel could not shoot a sedative dart at the animal even from a bare distance of 20 m, says he, which finally provoked the mob to attack the tigress, say activists