Rumours make tiger tracking tougher

LUCKNOW: There is no trace of the stray tiger a week after its pugmarks were found at Hasankhera village on October 25

“From Godhan where it killed a bull on October 22 till Hasankhera where its pugmarks were last found, we have been tracking along the entire route but no new kill or pugmark have been found,” said DFO, Awadh, Suresh Yadav.

Rumours, on the other hand, are giving the team a tough time. “People who see a blue bull in the night come to us next morning saying they have seen a tiger,” said an official. Every carcass of a cattle is being reported to the team as a tiger kill. Since the team has been told to verify each and every input coming from the villagers, a lot of time is spent acting on the information.

On October 26, locals said a CCTV installed in a house in Madiaon has recorded a tiger. Later, after officers saw the footage, it turned out to be a jungle cat. On Thursday, villagers in Kakori raised an alarm after they said they saw pugmarks of a tiger in a farmhouse. On investigation, it turned out to be an impression of hooves.