Two tiger cubs killed in 'revenge' by villagers in India

New Delhi – In a case of revenge, villagers located on the outskirts of the famous Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in the north-west state of Rajasthan, killed two 17-month-cubs, upset over the killing of their livestock by tigers which strayed out of the reserve.

The incident has sent shockwaves as India has been crying hoarse over the drop in the number of big cats. India, at last count, had a total of 1,411 tigers in its reserves.

Forest officials said it could have been revenge by the villagers, upset over the killing of their livestock by tigers. Officials say that such incidents may happen again, as straying of tigers from the over-populated reserve was expected. The tiger population in Ranthambore reserve has now come down to 39, which has capacity for only 30.

With the death of the cubs, the worst fears over the growing tiger population and their shrinking habitat leading to their killings have come true. According to forest officials, the two cubs had strayed from the park about two months back and were seen roaming in its outskirts ever since.

'It's not a case of poaching as the body parts were intact. It appears to be a case of revenge killing,' Rajasthan's state chief wildlife warden R N Mehrotra has been quoted as saying in the Times of India newspaper.

Forest officials said they found carcasses of two goats from the place where the dead cubs were found.

'Prima facie it appears that the tigers ate the goats that were set as bait and got poisoned. The tigers had vomited,' the official said.

'The tigers have been attacking livestock in villages. But on Sunday, they were poisoned by the villagers near the Talawara village, about 15 km from the park, on the banks of the Banas river,' the official added.

Officials recovered their carcasses and conducted a post mortem. The viscera has been sent for forensic test and the bodies have been burnt.

'The two adult cubs were from the same litter of the Chirolee tigress and were roaming on the outskirts. When their bodies were traced they were together. They seemed to have been lying for two days and had developed maggots. However, their mother is within the park limits and is safe,' the report quoted an official as saying.

'Had we relocated some of the tigers to Sariska, we would not have seen this day. We could have relocated five tigers to Sariska by now and there would have been space for these cubs in Ranthambhor,' the report quoted forest officials as saying.

Four tigers in Ranthambore have died in the last two years, officials have been quoted as saying.

Four more tigers are said to be still wandering in the neighborhood of the park -- in a range of 15-150 km from it -- in the Kota-Baran area and near Bund Baretha in Bharatpur-Dholpur districts, perhaps awaiting the same fate, the Hindu newspaper reported..

The theory of human involvement gets strengthened by the fact that one goat was partly eaten and its left-over was on the ground while the other goat carcass was found hanging from a tree.

Sariska is probably one of the most visited parks in India.. The park was, as with many other parks, was the hunting reserve of the erstwhile royal family in the area.

The reserve was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1958 and came under the "Project Tiger" as a Sariska tiger reserve in 1979.

The park covers quite a large area of 800 square kilometers, 480 square kilometers of which form the core area of the national park. It is located among the Aravalli hill ranges in the Alwar district of Rajasthan. Due to the presence of monuments of religious importance located within the park boundaries.

The man-animal conflict in India is assuming serious proportions with reports of conflict being reported in increasing numbers.

A tiger had mauled and injured a woman in the Sunderbans forests in the eastern state of West Bengal late last month..

In Bahraich area in northern Uttar Pradesh state, a herd of elephants attacked a village near the Katarniyaghat Wildlife sanctuary and damaged crops.

Over half a dozen elephants broke the gate of the colony and damaged walls of at least two houses. The pachyderms also damaged household goods besides, pulling down trees and the sugarcane crop in the farmhouse of the colony, officials said.

The residents faced a tough time chasing the elephants away by burning fire and beating drums.

In two incidents that occurred in Corbett tiger reserve in north India last month, a woman was killed by a tiger and another of a leopard striking a group of three boys.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/312973,two-tiger-cubs-killed-in-revenge-by-villagers-in-india.html.