CHITWAN : Two people lost their lives after a tiger attacked them on September 26 and 28 in Chitwan. An investigation has begun after two people were killed after a tiger attack The National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) in Sauraha has been tracking the tiger that killed the people in the Kumroj area.
Office chief Dr Baburam Lamichhane said that the tiger is being kept under surveillance to prevent further tragic incidents. “The camera footage shows that the tiger is roaming in the area even at present. But the situation does not warrant that the tiger should be immediately captured,” he said.
According to him, it is considered a very sensitive situation if the tiger entered the settlements and therefore the tiger’s activities are being studied by means of camera. He added that they would alert the people if the tiger showed any signs of entering the human settlements.
Lamichhane said cameras were fitted the very day the first incident of attack took place for collecting information on the tiger’s health condition and behaviour. He said a tiger usually moves to the edge of the jungle if it is very old and infirm and if it is unable to hunt and live together with its pride. In such a situation, the likelihood of the tiger attacking people is higher.
According to Dr Lamichhane, the tiger attacking the people in Kumroj area is healthy with no signs of any wound or infirmity. It is a male Royal Bengal Tiger of around eight years. Study shows that four percent of the tigers found in the Chitwan National Park (CNP) live near human settlements. There are 93 tigers in the CNP at present. The Royal Bengal Tiger and the one-horned rhinos are found in CNP.
Every year, people in settlements close to the national park are attacked and killed by these animals. Although the CNP has implemented various programmes for reducing human-wildlife conflict, there has been no reduction in such incidents.