Nagarahole: Activists suspect tiger's death was a planned overdose
- Last week a tiger died at the Bannerghatta National Park due to serious injuries
- Now a female tiger died at the Gendethur Village near Kabini Backwaters after it was shot by forest officers
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Tigers in Karnataka are not having a good year. First, there was the death of a wounded 8-year-old tiger which was rescued from Bandipur; the tiger died of injuries at the Bannerghatta National Park a few days ago. Now a female tiger died at the Gendethur Village near Kabini Backwaters after it was shot by forest officers. Animal rights activists have been quick to allege that the tiger died because of a drug overdose from being darted and tranquilized 3-4 times since January 16.
One also has to keep in mind that there is a directive that in case wild animals like the tiger are posing a threat to human life then it can be shot. Villagers living adjoining the forest areas claim that the tigers come out to hunt cattle and some of the animals are adventurous enough to return to the premises for more kills. In fact, there was recent news about three tigers being spotted at a village near HD Kote and villagers suspect the animals have come out to hunt their cattle.
Few activists who work towards tiger protection say that a tiger being spotted near human habitat is considered dangerous and the forest officer would usually kill the animal to save humans, who are on top of the food chain. The activists suspect that the officers, to escape the wrath of animal rights activists and public, used this idea of 'overdose'.
Sources say the above reason could be why this operation was ‘staged’. It was to appease the villagers. Last year, when the elephants entered into the village, an angry mob beat up a forest official for not driving away the animal. So fearing repercussions, the forest officials may have done this. However, Nagarahole National Park Director, Manikanthan, dismissed the allegations of overdose in the death of the tiger and said, “The tiger had a broken canine, its claws had cut marks and it was on an empty stomach. The doctors believe that the death was due to shock and we are waiting for the autopsy report.”
Even Dr Umashankar, the Veterinarian at Nagarahole National Park, who shot the tiger with tranquilizers, also attributed the death to the animal being in shock. "The combination of Xylazine and Ketamine was used. Only 2 ML was used in the dart to shoot the tiger. Since it was cold, the initial darts did not work. As there was a crowd, the animal became very aggressive and was running towards a nearby banana plantation. Fearing it could pose a danger to the humans there, the animal was darted twice again. As it was exhausted, it died out of shock," he said.
