Farmer killed in tiger attack in Dudhwa forest

A 45-year-old farmer was killed in a tiger attack near the Manjhra Purab forest in the Belrayan range of the Dudhwa buffer zone on Thursday, officials have confirmed. The incident is the first case of human-animal conflict reported from the area in the last nine months.

Dudhwa Tiger Reserve field director B Prabhakar said the victim of Thursday’s incident was Preetam Singh, a wheat farmer from Babapurwa village under the Tikunia police station limits, who was attacked while working at his field near the Mohana river.

The body was discovered and recovered by locals in the night, who also reported seeing a tiger, the official added. “The body has been sent for postmortem, and monetary compensation will be provided to the aggrieved family as per the rules,” he added.

He said patrolling teams were deputed in the area to monitor the activities of the big cat while over a dozen cameras had been installed at vital points to trace the location of the big cat.

The forest area was in the headlines nine months ago when a tigress went on a rampage attacking humans and caused several casualties.

Its terror ended on June 30, 2022, when forest officials successfully trapped and shifted the animal to a zoo.