A male tiger that was blamed for killing ten people in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit Tiger Reserve may be deaf. This was found out after the tiger was anaesthetised on 24th September by the officials in the forest while the rescue was in progress.
According to the observation, it was noted that the animal did not respond to any sound, and it was suspected that maybe it had been exposed to noise pollution for a long time now, for instance, noise produced by fire crackers and horns, which villagers use in order to scare the animals.
DFO Manish Singh said this is the first time a tiger with suspected hearing impairment has been reported. The tiger footprints of 14 × 14 cm were established to have been involved in at least ten kills, the last one being on September 9 in the Mala forest range in the vicinity of Banskhera village. However, since the tiger was suspected to be deaf, veterinary officer Dr. Daksh Gangwar said that the tiger was otherwise healthy and did not show any signs of injury.
It is now kept under observation within the reserve after it was captured recently. A report on its status has been forwarded to the UP Chief Wildlife Warden Sanjay Srivastava for further medical examination that may call for other tests that cannot be done in the reserve.
This tiger has been sighted to have affected six villages within Kalinagar tehsil, and the people are always on their guard. Residents have said that they have had to confine children indoors and be on the lookout since there is still fear of human-wildlife conflict in the region.
Another male tiger attacked a farmer on September 9 and now resides near the Nagaria Khurd Kalan village. The authorities of the forests are observing this situation in order to avoid the deterioration of the situation and for the animals to recover and adapt to the forests.
