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For the First Time the Official Tale of Kuno Cheetahs

  Ahead of the first anniversary of the  controvertial cheetah project  and the release of African cheetahs in  Kuno national park ,  interesting observations have been shared by the  director of the park where   14 cheetahs await re-release in the wild. They were caught   and brought back to bomas following 6 cheetah deaths after septicemia caused by abrasion from   satellite collars.   Uttam Kumar Sharma , the park director has dwelt in detail on cheetah movements and their exploration of the landscape , their interaction with each other and the  efforts  made by the  park management to  monitor the  animals  round the clock as he tried to hammer home a point- African cheetahs are adapting fast in India.  Asha: The Hope   Based upon his observations, Sharma has released newsletters   revolving around   two cheetah coalitions -Gaurav-Shaurya (Rockstars) and Agni-Vayu (White walkers), Asha, the female cheetah from Namibia and  Jwala and her Indian born cubs. The story  of the two coali

No This Tiger Did Not Commit Suicide, Body Found Hanging Near Panna Tiger Reserve

 

Tiger poaching

It is always disheartening to carry a picture of a dead tiger . This young  tiger was killed by poachers near Panna tiger reserve .  About four days after the death, body of this male tiger was found hanging from a tree from a clutch wire- used in motor bikes. The picture gives an impression as if the tiger committed suicide. This is the second such incident in the region. Around four years ago,  the body of a tiger was found hanging from a tree in the core area of the tiger reserve. 

Poachers Are Active 


Tiger poaching

On the cold December morning on Wednesday, the  forest  department officials in Panna and Chattarpur   received a message of  the tiger's death. As the investigations started by afternoon on December 7, officials of the Special Task Force, the Tiger Strike Force and  local police arrived at the scene. Sniffer dogs were deployed . We will update the story  whenever some development take place. The crime scene is located in a village Vikrampur ,8 kms away from Panna city and about 20 kms away from the tiger reserve. Chief Conservator of Forest (CCF) Chattarpur , Sanjeev Jha said, “  poachers wanted to kill some other animal but the tiger  was caught in the noose”. The poaching took place in Panna North division  where  the post of the divisional forest officer (DFO) has been vacant for the past over three months .Sources said that there was hardly any patrolling taking place in the forest area. The CCF said ,” we will take lessons from this incident and will step up patrolling.” 


There  is a history of tiger poaching in and around Panna tiger reserve.  For the poachers, winters have always been the time to strike in jungles.  It has been seen in the past that most of the time when a tiger steps out of the tiger reserve, it has not survived.  Large numbers of poachers are active in the jungle around the national park that had witnessed a huge tragedy of tigers when all of them were poached and no tiger was left in the national park. This male tiger had also strayed out from the park, department sources said, after he was separated from his mother. “Over two year of age, the young tiger was creating his territory when the tragedy struck “, sources claimed.  “ Even if the poachers did not want to kill a tiger”,  a senior officer said, “ the clutch wire noose was placed to kill some animal  which is illegal.” There are around 70 tigers in Panna national park. About three years ago when a tiger was killed in core area of Panna, it had a radio collar around his neck.

By Deshdeep Saxena

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