Poachers have reportedly buried a tiger that was electrocuted in a trap laid for wild boar near Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary in Bhandara. There have been earlier instances of animals, especially wild boar and bison, getting electrocuted near fields in Sakoli taluka —— because many people have installed electric fences around their fields to prevent animals from damaging their crops.
Though poachers had laid a trap for wild boar near Bamhani village on January 15, a tiger, unfortunately, got trapped and electrocuted. Authorities believe that the poachers were perhaps not prepared for such a big catch, and reportedly buried the dead tiger on the outskirts of the village.
When they got to know that a tiger might have been trapped, the forest vigilance flying squad launched a search operation, but returned empty-handed. Authorities believe that the poachers have used a bullock cart to carry the dead tiger. Some hair found on the spot has been sent for testing to a forensic laboratory at Nagpur.
“The hair indicates that the trapped animal was either a tiger or a leopard,” said Nitin Desai, Central India director of Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI). “In any case, a Schedule-I animal has been poached. Accurate information about the animal would be available only after the forensic report is out.”
A senior forest official, however, said that the hair should have been sent to forensic laboratories in Hyderabad or Dehradun. “It is hard to understand why it was sent to Nagpur,” he said. The divisional forest officer, Sakoli Bhalchandra Thakeray, could not be reached for his comments.
Officials of the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM) have detained one Lattiram Raut . Raut, a resident of Bamhani village, operates a poaching gang and has been involved in serious wildlife offences. Raut’s gang is suspected in this incident.
