An adult tigress was killed, reportedly after being hit by a train on Mailani-Lakhimpur broad-gauge railway track near the Bhikhampur halt under Mailani range of Dudhwa Buffer Zone (DBZ).
Its carcass with severe head injuries was recovered on Wednesday morning near the railway track, when a forest team was patrolling the area.
Kirti Chaudhary, deputy director, DBZ, said that the tigress was probably crossing the railway track when it was hit by a train.
Describing the tigress of about five to six-year-old, she said that the impact was so intense that it caused serious head and internal injuries besides fractures.
She added “an autopsy by veterinary experts was being carried out as per National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) guidelines and appropriate action would be taken after the postmortem report.”
She said “investigations will be carried out to identify the train involved in the incident, and to ascertain if the train had observed the speed limit as stipulated while crossing the wild animal zone in the reserved forest area.”
Another leopard captured alive
Meanwhile, another leopard, a three to four-year-old male, was captured alive from near a village Ramlok in Dhaurahra range of DBZ.
Manoj Tiwari, sub divisional officer (SDO), DBZ, said that “local villagers had complained about frequent movement of the leopard since last fortnight around their villages and demanded its capture owing to panic and fear in the region, affecting their daily activities.”
After permission from the authorities, a cage was set up near the village, in which the leopard was found caged on Wednesday morning, he said.
He added the captured leopard was brought to Dhaurahra range headquarters for a medical examination and a decision about its release will be taken later, as per instruction.
This is the seventh incident of a leopard being captured – six in March and this one on the first day of April – and 10th in this year, indicating the increased leopard movement in the DBZ.
DEO KANT PANDEY
