Man-eater of Yavatmal: Order given to shoot tiger that killed 10

A man-eating tigress that’s been blamed for killing 10 people in over a year in Maharastra’s Yavatmal district, bordering Andhra Pradesh, may finally be stopped.

The Maharashtra wildlife department has issued orders to shoot the man-eater that has terrorized villages around Pandharkawada town, 150 kilometres from Nagpur.

After a meeting in Nagpur between experts and senior officers, including those from National Tiger Conservation Authority, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) A.K. Misra issued the order on Monday evening. As is the case with such shooting orders, field staff have been directed to tranquilize or use other methods first to stop the tigress.

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The order comes in the face of massive public pressure to kill the tigress.

Earlier efforts to find the tigress and tranquilise her have failed, including an attempt by a team of shooters brought in from Hyderabad.

The forest department’s efforts to track the tigress, including camera traps and DNA analysis, have revealed the presence of another tiger in the area that includes Ralegaon, Kelapur, Sakhi, Krishnapur, Sakharkhed, Loni, Bander, Farati, Subhanheti, Ghubadheti, Aathmordi and Jeeramira villages. But officials say the evidence gathered from camera traps has revealed that the tigress has been more aggressive in attacking humans.

Cotton swabs from the bodies of the man-eater’s last three victim and animal hair collected from where the bodies were found were sent to the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad and the National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore, which confirmed that it is the tigress that is attacking humans.

Earlier, another tigress from Bramhapuri was shot dead by the forest department after it killed around seven villagers.

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