Alarm bells: UP goes on the great wild (goose) tiger chase

But this is no ordinary tiger. Apart from being a lost animal, it is also now a politicised tiger. After the tiger killed a young boy in the first week of December between Barabanki and Lucknow, (it is also suspected of injuring people around Pilibhit) the Forest Department declared that it was a ‘man-eater’ and the Barabanki District magistrate KR Nayak announced a cash reward for anyone who would kill the tiger. Following this, members from the Bhartiya Kisan Union reportedly hit the streets to “kill” the tiger armed with cheap ammunition and sticks.

Forest Department officials said they were under “pressure” when they declared the tiger should be killed. But was killing the tiger the only answer? The Centre differed. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), in a strongly worded letter, asked UP to refrain from killing the tiger, saying it was not a proven ‘man-eater’ and instead directed an expert WII team to tranquilise and catch it. Wildlife conservationists shot off letters to both UP and NTCA protesting against the declaration of the cash reward.

“The manner in which the cash reward was announced to kill the tiger was populist and seemed to hearken back to colonial times,” says tiger conservationist Belinda Wright. Following the rap from the NTCA, however, the DM said he was offering the cash reward only to those who would “help” the forest department in catching the tiger. Chief Wildlife Warden B K Patnaik said killing the tiger would be the “last” option.

While the debate around it rages, the tiger is still on the loose. It is currently in Faizabad, an elaborate team is still trying to catch it. This includes a veterinary doctor, a team of 10 professional trackers who recognise tiger pugmarks, forest department elephants, four people to tranquilise the animal and a research officer. The Chief Conservator of Forests, Ecodevelopment, is heading the operation.

The reason for the delay, says the Forest Department, is “the fog and cold”. “The WII team tracked the tiger for some days and has given us advice on how to deal with the animal. They have asked us to isolate the animal in a particular area and then catch it. We are getting stalled due to the fog and the cold. It gets dark very early and the tiger moves without detection. We are trying our best,” says Patnaik.

The operation has become a huge attraction for local people, making the task tougher for the team tracking the tiger. In a December 19 letter, NTCA Member Secretary Rajesh Gopal wrote to the Chief Wildlife Warden: “There are disturbing visuals of a large number of local people in the area where the field operation is ongoing. This is a cause for great concern since such disturbances would invariably result in human casualties.”

“It’s not as if UP is blooming with tigers. We should try to conserve what we have instead of declaring rewards for a tiger,” Rajesh Gopal says. “Further, the tiger is eating its normal prey like bluebulls, indicating it is not a man-eater yet,” he says.

Kaushalendra Singh, member, Tiger Haven Society and former member of the Uttarakhand Wildlife Board has taken the Forest Department’s sloppiness to the police. “I have filed an FIR with the Hazratganj Police Station. The forest department is failing in protecting wildlife. Instead, this whole exercise is degenerated into a tamasha. The tiger is lost. It should be helped,” he says.