Confusion continuing over tiger killings

DEHRADUN: Confusion persists regarding the tiger that is apparently on a man hunt. Is it a tiger or a tigress; how many have been killed? With a leopard now coming into the picture, authorities say it is time information on this was done with more rigour. Chief wildlife warden of the Uttarakhand wildlife department SS Sharma said that the killing of a man in Kalagarh range on Sunday was not caused by a maneating tigress believed to be responsible for several killings across western UP. No pug-marks or other signs of the purported maneater were found during investigations, Sharma said.

In fact, it is not certain whether the animal believed to be behind the killings is a tigress. Kamlesh Kumar, conservator of forests, Moradabad, who had been tracking the issue from the beginning, says no one has seen the animal till now so it can’t be conclusively said that a tigress is behind the killings. Although, he says, going by the pug-marks, the likelihood of the animal being a tigress is more.

The killing of a woman, which took place on January 1, also in Kalagarh forest range, was also not by the purported tigress but by another tiger, former director of Corbett Tiger Reserve Surender Mehra said. According to Mehra, the killing of a 35-year-old man in Bijnor district on January 26 cannot be attributed to the tigress as the pug marks near the dead body resembled a leopard, not a tigress.