Minor among three apprehended for killing tiger in Asifabad

Kumram Bheem Asifabad: Three persons including a juvenile were apprehended on charges of poisoning a tiger to death in the forests of Dharegaon village in Kaghaznagar mandal a few days back.

Chief Wildlife Warden Mohan Chandra Pargaien, in a statement, said Kova Jangu and Athram Jalapathi from Rengarrit village in Wankidi mandal and an 11-year old boy were taken into custody on Thursday and produced before a court in Asifabad on Friday. While Jangu and Jalapathi were sent to a 12-day judicial remand, the juvenile was released on a parental bond.

During the course of investigations, the three reportedly confessed to the crime and admitted that they had poisoned the carcass of a cattle killed by tigers with an intention to eliminate the tiger. Forest officials said they had collected evidence from the accused persons.

Search for missing tigers continues

Meanwhile, the search and screening of the forest area surrounding the place of the death of two tigers continued for the third day on Friday. About 24 teams containing 120 officials and animal trackers were engaged in the intensive search and sanitising the adjoining areas in particular water bodies, cattle kill and snares meant for electrocution.

A one and half year old female cub named S15 and six-year-old male tiger called S9 were found dead in the forests of Dharegaon village on January 6 and 8 respectively. The cause of the death of the second tiger was suspected to be poisoning, while a territorial fight was attributed to the death of the first tiger.

Meeting with inter-state officials soon

Keeping the recent death of two tigers in Khagaznagar forest area in the corridor of Kawal Tiger Reserve and abutting Maharashtra state in view, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests RM Dobriyal and Pargain also discussed the matter with his counterpart of Maharashtra Maheep Gupta.

Dobriyal said that a meeting would be convened to discuss various interstate issues including securing the tiger habitat and corridors in this tiger landscape in the third week of January.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) also suggested having this joint meeting to formulate appropriate strategies for the conservation and protection of tigers in both the states.