20 May,2023 08:43 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Representational Pic
A 55-year-old woman was allegedly killed by a big cat in the Saoli forest range of Maharashtra's Chandrapur district on Saturday. This is the eighth such fatality in man-animal conflict in the area this year, a forest official told the PTI on Saturday.
Testing of the wild animal's saliva on the woman's body will confirm if it was a tiger or leopard, he said.
According to Range Forest Officer P G Virutkar, victim Pramela Rohankar, a resident of Wagholi Buti in Saoli tehsil in Chandrapur, had gone to a farm when she was killed by a feline, reported the PTI.
Though pug marks were found at the spot, the nature of the injuries on the woman's body suggested that she was attacked by a big cat, he said.
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The actual predator tiger or leopard will be ascertained after an autopsy and a lab test, said officials.
The woman's family was given an initial compensation of Rs 25,000 to conduct her final rites. The actual relief Rs 20 lakh will be released after completion of necessary formalities, said Virutkar.
This is the eighth death due to a big cat in the Saoli forest range of the district since January, he added.
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Meanwhile, A male tiger in Andhra Pradesh's Alluri Sitaramaraju district is posing threat to the forest fringe villagers by regularly lifting their cattle, with two calves and a cow being the latest, the PTI reported on Saturday.
On Thursday morning, forest officials discovered a cattle being killed at Peda Rabha village of Anantagiri mandal in the district and in the past 10 days three such incidents were reported.
"This male tiger is actually lifting the cattle more than the female tiger. It is a frequent cattle lifter. This is preying on cattle both in Vizianagaram and Alluri Sitaramaraju districts. It is on the prowl in the border between these two districts," Paderu divisional forest officer (DFO) Vinod Kumar told PTI on Saturday.
Initially, there were two tigers, one male and female. However, Kumar said since January, the female tiger had left somewhere which could not tracked while the male remained.
Artificial translocation of tigers for the first time in the state
Maharashtra Minister for Forest Sudhir Mungantiwar on Saturday said that artificial translocation of tigers has been done for the first time in the state. Two tigers were released today in Navegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve. These tigres were artificially translocated from the Bramhapuri forest zone. Through this experiment, research will be done on the artificial migration of tigers. To monitor these tigers, radio collars, more than 300 cameras, and around 400 pads have been placed. This will also help in increasing tourism, reported the ANI.
