Alleged Maneater Tiger Blamed For 9 Human Deaths In Bihar's West Champaran Shot Dead
An elusive tiger, that allegedly killed nine humans in the West Champaran district in Bihar was shot dead on Friday.
Earlier in the day shoot-at-sight-order was issued by the Chief wildlife warden to kill the alleged maneater.
The shoot-at-sight order was issued after attempts to tranqulise and capture the big cat failed repeatedly and the maneater continues its killing spree.
Two kills in two days
On Thursday, a man was killed by the tiger in Bihar's Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR), making him the eighth victim in the last 27 days.
The victim, Sanjay Mahto, was attacked when he went out to an agriculture field in the Damro Govardhan village.
Locals said that his neck bone was broken and bite marks made of the tiger were found also on the neck.
Just a day before, on Thursday, the same tiger is suspected to have killed a 12-year-old girl while she was sleeping in her house in Sihni village under Baghi Panchayat.
Avni's hunter on the trail of the maneater
Noted wildlife hunter Nawab Shafath Ali Khan, who shot and killed tigress Avni in Maharashtra was hired by the Bihar Forest Department to tranquilise the man-eater tiger.
However, he was unsuccessful in his mission for days as the tiger continues to slip away from him.
On September 28, the tiger escaped from a trap and took away a goat tethered as bait right in front of the hunter and Forest Department officials.
"The maneater tiger is very smart and agile. It changes locations every two to three hours. We have laid the trap in Hariharpur village. When the goat was inside the cage, it did not come. As soon as we tied it outside the cage, it came and attacked it and killed it," DFO West Champaran, Dr. Neeraj Narayan said.
The tiger is injured
It is still unclear why the tiger, said to be aged around four-year-old started attacking humans.
According to Forest Officials, some injury marks were seen on the body of the tiger, which could have been the result of a territorial fight with another big cat.
Big cats including?tigers and leopards usually attack domestic animals?and humans, only when they are not able to hunt their natural prey like deer due to poor health or crippling injuries.
Growing human-tiger conflict in VTR
VTR which is the only national park in Bihar and covers an area of 898.45 km -- 17.4 per cent of the total geographical area of the West Champaran district.
According to the 2018 census, there were a total of 40 tigers in the Reserve.
Besides the Royal Bengal Tigers, VTR is also a natural habitat for leopards, hyenas, sloth bears, wild dogs, deer, fishing cats, wild boars, civets, serow, antelopes, and elephants, among others.
VTR is considered the fifth-best tiger reserve and wildlife sanctuary in the country.
There has been an increase in the number of tiger attacks as the area is surrounded by dense human populations.
Wildlife experts believe that the big cats are straying into human settlements could also be due to their growing population in the VTR.
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