Bigcats News

[Apollo]

Tigress gone astray is 30km from city


 An adult tigress is hardly a leap away from Lucknow. The two-day old pugmarks found in Jagdishpur village in Sandila have confirmed presence of the feline about 30km from the city.



No fresh pugmarks were found on Monday. According to forest officers, it's the same tigress which got localised in Katri, a patch of forest along the Ganga river in Unnao last winter. Since that area is now submerged with rainwater, the tigress has moved out of the patch.



Forest department has yet to start a trap-and-rescue operation for the big cat though range officers are visiting the spots to confirm the feline's presence as and when alerted by locals.



Tracing the pugmarks, an officer said the big cat first went towards the east of Katri forest but not finding a conducive habitat there turned towards Hardoi. "Given the forest patches in Rahmankhera and its vicinity, the feline is sure to find its way to Lucknow, if not checked," said sources.



So far, no untoward incident has been reported. But, like last year, forest officers are reaching the spot of pugmarks after the big cat has moved out of the area.



The tigress was hardly a year-and-half old when it ventured out of the forest and lost its way towards Lucknow in October last year. It did not react to any action of the department including use of bait or installing cage and remained on the move.



"Now, it is a full grown tigress and its movement needs to be checked," said sources.



Last year, it never showed up and was elusive. It was killing smaller animals and eating the entire 10 to 12 kgs of kill, reason the trackers did not find any kill from the site of pugmarks or close to it.


The tigress all through its stay in Lucknow's Maal-Malihabad-Kakori belt and then in Unnao never attacked anybody. It has never been spotted but only captured on camera installed in Katri forest.




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