Tigress on prowl successfully captured in Pandharkawada

A tigress on the prowl in the forests of Pandharkawada in Yavatmal district has been successfully captured by the Maharashtra Forest Department (MFD) on Wednesday.

This comes as a sigh of relief to the local populace, who were reeling under threat for the past few days.

The two-year-old sub-adult tigress named T2C1 was captured near the Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary.

Recently the tigress has killed a 60-year-old woman in the agricultural field near Andharwadi and Pattanbori villages, which are located adjacent to Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary.

The tigress was being routinely spotted through camera trap images along Andharwadi, Koparmandvi, Vasari and Kobai villages in Pandharkawada Forest Reserve. She had also attacked another person, but he escaped with injuries. The tigress had also attacked cattle.

On Wednesday morning, she was darted and captured successfully, following the protocols of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). The tigress is likely to be shifted to Gorewada Rescue Centre or another transit treatment centre in Nagpur.

As soon as the news of the capture of tigress reached Mumbai, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray congratulated the MFD for the successful operation. Under the provisions of Wildlife Protection Act, Maharashtra’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Nitin Kakodkar ordered the capture of the tigress.

“As many as 29 cameras were also installed in the area. On September 4, Subhash Kayatwar was chased and attacked at Mauje Vasari, injuring him severely. Then on September 19, Lakshmibai Dadaje from Andharwadi was attacked and killed. The tigress had also attacked cattle. Finally, she had been captured successfully,” said Thackeray, a wildlife enthusiast and professional photographer.

The capture of the tigress, that too in Pandharkawada is very significant. It may be recalled, on 3 November 2018, a tigress T1 aka Avni, which was described as a man-eater and responsible for 13 deaths in the Pandharkawada area, was shot dead, resulting in a major political issue.

The tigress was shot dead by Ashgar Ali, the son of Hyderabad-based sharpshooter Nawab Shafath Ali Khan. The then BJP-Shiv Sena government led by Devendra Fadnavis and then Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar had come under criticism for the killing of the tigress.

Even Thackeray, who was then part of the government, had come down heavily for the killing of the tigress.