New Delhi: Less than a fortnight since a tiger was poached in the Russian Far East and another found poisoned in north India, one more was killed yesterday in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam. The latest incident occurred in Nagabandha in Morigaon district, about 60 km east of Guwahati, capital city of Assam.“The tiger was an adult male. It was first sighted in Habi Barangabari, 8 km south of the river Brahmaputra and later in Nagabandha. Tigers have been observed to use dry river beds and river islands along Brahmaputra as a corridor to move between Orang, Kaziranga, Laokhowa, Bura Chapori areas. These river beds and islands provide them enough cover and prey, so seeing a tiger here is not uncommon, but sometimes they may explore further and end up in areas occupied by people leading to conflicts,” said Dr Bhaskar Choudhury, IFAW-WTI (International Fund for Animal Welfare – Wildlife Trust of India) veterinarian who was a part of the Assam Forest Department’s team deployed to track the tiger.

The team reached Nagabandha after being informed that the tiger had lifted a piglet from here. Subsequently, early morning yesterday one person was also killed.

“A local woman attacked by the tiger in the morning yesterday succumbed to her injuries. The tiger then went and hid in the paddy fields nearby; as we carried out our searches to sedate it, it took refuge in a nearby house,” said Dr Choudhury.

Unfortunately, however, the team did not get any opportunity at tranquilising the tiger, as the crowd of hundreds of angry spectators refused to disperse despite requests from the civil authorities. Local people armed with sticks and sharp weapons surrounded the house in which the tiger remained hidden and pelted it with stones. The tiger was shot dead by the police as it attacked and killed another person while attempting to escape.

“Generally, to control these kinds of situations, managing the crowd is crucial to let the experts carry out their work,” said Dr Rathin Barman, Coordinator, WTI, citing examples of two tiger rescue operations involving IFAW-WTI veterinarians. “In March last year, one of our vets deployed to tranquilise a tiger in Jakhalabandha near Kaziranga National Park was accidentally shot and severely injured as the situation turned chaotic; the tiger was killed then too. Alternatively, in another case in April this year when the people were cooperative, we assisted the Forest Department in successful capture of a tiger that had killed two people in Sibsagar; the tiger was radio-collared and subsequently released in Manas National Park and is currently being monitored by our team.”

Among other successful tiger rescues in Assam, IFAW-WTI had in 2004 assisted the Forest Department in the capture and release of two tiger cubs that had ‘strayed’ into human settlements. In 2008, a tiger that had fallen into a well near Tezpur town was tranquilised, relocated to Nameri and released.