When the tiger population is dwindling at an alarming rate and it has become a huge challenge to protect them even in the protected areas, the death of a 3-year-old tigress in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday morning raises several questions, the most burning of them is whether or not the tigress was fatally hit by a vehicle carrying tourists.
According to initial reports, some tourists had spotted the tigress moving aggressively towards a vehicle near a water hole at Jhurjhura on the Tala-Jhurjhura track on Wednesday morning. This was promptly reported at the Park entrance. A forest team rushed to the spot but the tigress died shortly thereafter.
When a senior police officer, in-charge of law and order in that area, was contacted, he said that the tigress was seen limping in the morning. When a team of forest department staff rushed there, the tigress was in an aggressive mood and charged at their vehicle. The driver immediately put the vehicle in reverse gear and hit the paddle hard. It seems, the police officer said, while reversing, the vehicle hit a “macchan” (makeshift observation post) which fell, injuring the tiger. The actual cause of injury would be known only after the post-mortem, he added.
State chief wildlife warden R.S. Negi said on Thursday afternoon that the post-mortem had been delayed as the veterinary expert, who was to be sent to Bandhavgarh from Jabalpur had left for Gwalior for some other work. The chief wildlife warden was not available subsequently to inform about the post-mortem findings.
There are reports indicating that the tigress was hit neither by any forest department vehicle nor by the crumbling “macchan” as has been suggested by a senior cop. A section of the local print media has reported that the tigress was fatally wounded by a rashly driven vehicle that went too close for a perfect view of the tigress.