2 Drones, 200 Men: How a Man-Eating Tigress Was Killed in 45 Days

The forest officer who led the operations to kill the tigress is not happy; they wanted her alive and not dead.

Forest officials at Corbett burning the carcass of tigress as per protocol. (Photo : IANS)

An under-weight adult tigress, missing several claws and canines, was killed after a 45-day hunt which employed an array of modern technologies.

However, the man who led the hunt is not happy. On Thursday, Jim Corbett National Park was stripped of another big cat whom forest officer Parag Madhukar Dhakate had wanted to capture alive.

The feline, which became the 101st tiger to die on record this year, was blamed for killing two people and injuring two others in villages around Ramnagar town of Nainital district in September.

It took over 45 days, 200 men, 120 camera traps, eight cages, five shooters, four sniffer dogs, three elephants, two night and thermal vision drones and a helicopter — in a confined area of just 20 km sq — to track down the six-year-old tigress, which was already sick and injured.

She drew her last breath in the same fields where she grew up — towards the park's southern region. Ten bullets were shot at her, of which three hit her in the head, and the rest in the stomach and left hind leg.

Killing her was not the only solution. Our preference was to capture her by tranquilising or trapping. Four attempts at tranquilising were made from helicopter, some from elephants and even from the ground, but she was very swift even after being sick.

Dhakate, Conservator of Forests, Uttarakhand, to IANS

Around Rs 1 crore had been spent on capturing and subsequently killing her.

He said that the public outcry was increasing each day as the terror of a man-eater was barring villagers from going about their daily lives. Children were skipping school and villagers were unable to harvest their crops.

We tried our best to get her alive. Had our sole aim been killing, the operation wouldn’t have lasted a week. 

Dhakate

The man-eater tigress as captured in a night camera. (Photo: IANS)

Officials couldn’t explain the weak condition she was in with her teeth grinded down but said that under such conditions tigers often go after humans — the “softest of the soft” targets.

The fields where she used to live, now revenue land, are used by farmers to grow sugarcane and paddy. Like many other national parks in India, such areas have become the perfect abode for tigers as they have abundance of water, prey and a supportive habitat.

Night camera images showed that the same habitat she lived in was also shared by a leopard.

Day by day such revenue lands around forest are being used up for sugarcane and paddy cultivation.

Dhakate to IANS

Such legal inroads often lead to man-animal conflicts.

When the tigress was killed, many villagers celebrated. The relieved villagers paraded the tigress’ carcass around. However, for Dhakate there was nothing to rejoice.

It was not a matter of celebration for us, but for restoring confidence among the local people. By eliminating one man-eater, a generalised negative approach towards the species was avoided.

Dhakate, Forest officer

India's oldest national park, Corbett, last time dealt with man-eaters in 2014 and 2011. Shrinking forests and encroachments by humans make conservationists fear that such phenomena may continue.

Source: IANS