Marathon Tiger Rescue Operation Near Pench National Park

  

A  tiger rescue - operation lasted for  almost 12 hours in  village on the edge of Pench  National Park in Madha Pradesh . The tiger was first rescued from a well without parapet wall and then  operated upon for a protruded rectum,  believed to be the result of intense roaring and vocalization, a term used for SOS call for mother.

Yelling Crowd and Tiger Roar

It was  about a year old  cub  in a village located in east Chhindwara  territorial forest division,  close to Pench tiger reserve , where the cub fell down in  the well on August 25 . Excessive growth of weeds and grass around the well without parapet walls led to the mishap. After falling down in the well, the cub   managed to catch hold of an iron stand, which must have been  fitted to place a water pump inside the  well. The location is a riverine  Hardua village where the well is located. It is also a tiger movement area and  the tiger corridor has been used by a tigress with 2 cubs these days.One of these cubs fell down in the well”, Dr Akhilesh Mishra, a veteran veterinarian of Pench tiger reserve said. He had led the 8 hour rescue operation to pull out the cub from the water body. The cub appeared to have fallen down into the  well  the previous night . In the morning, the well -owner heard a loud roaring of the tiger and informed the Pench   national park management . By the time the  park team arrived at the spot over 5000 villagers assembled near the spot. 

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They yelled and scared the cub leading to  more roaring and vocalisation. Dr Mishra said, “Intense roaring and vocalization also led to the rectum injury”.   Had there been no onlookers, we could have finished the rescue task in 15 minutes. Managing the crowd is   always difficult in such situations, said one of the team members involved in the operation.  “Humans have been penetrating deep into tiger territory leading to man -tiger conflict and people become aggressive and agitated whenever they see a tiger near their village,even a tiger in distress, like the one inside the well”, a senior forest deparment officials said. Dr Mishra said that  he did not  tranquilize the cub as it would have  fallen down into water risking his life. In may this year two tiger cubs were rescued the park team. They were alsmost killed by the villagers who had pelted stone. The incident had taken place in Pench -Kanha tiger corridor in a village of Seoni district where Pench national park is located.

Tiger Outside Protected Forests Unsafe 

The rescue team took the help of a crane  and lowered down a cage with meat inside it. And after repeated attempts when the cub went inside the cage to fetch a meat piece, its gate was closed down immediately.  The cage was lifted out from the well. The cub was then transported to Bhopal in Van Vihar national park, a rescue centre, where Dr Atul Gupta operated upon the injured rectum. The operation again went on for a few hours. 

Also read: Stone Pelting on Tiger Cubs :Kanha Pench Corridor Becomes Conflict Zone  

Though the tiger cub was rescued and operated upon, it is still not sure whether it would survive or not. There are an estimated 80 tigers in Pench including the cubs and sub adults. Many times tigresses move out of the jungle  along with cubs to them from the male tigers. But the presence of humans, increasing area of cultivation on the forest fringes and other  development works  lead to  confrontation of the animal with villages risking the life of tigers.

Images Courtsey Pench National Park