Belagavi: The miserable failure of the 300-plus forest officials to capture the man-eater tiger alive using tranquilisers during the week-long hunt has raised serious concerns about the survival of tigers in Bhimgad forests of Khanapur.
Wildlife experts blame the authorities for shifting the tiger from Chikamagaluru to Bhimgad without any effective planning and objective.
Former chief minister Jagadish Shettar alleges that State Wildlife Board members Rana George, son of Home Minister K J George and Sanjay Gubbi are solely responsible for releasing the tiger into Bhimgad, a territory which was unfamiliar for the four-year-old tiger which was shot dead by a local sharpshooter on Sunday night.
Several environmentalists and experts have questioned the logic behind releasing a tiger which was born and raised in the forests around Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary for the past four years, in a new territory.
“In a new territory, the tiger was finding it difficult to adjust which made it stray into villages in the vicinity. It had to kill a woman and many animals for its survival.
The four tigers which already are in Bhimgad forest may not have allowed the tiger to enter their territory as they feel threatened.
The forest authorities should have studied the behaviour of tigers before negligently getting a tiger killed at a time when the tiger is slowly getting extinct,'' says wildlife expert Rajesh Chavan.
Mr Shettar blames forest officials and members of Wildlife Board for the tiger's release into Bhimgad. The government should have named experts who are capable of handing the crisis effectively to the board instead of putting the lives of poor people into risk, he said.
