Daijiworld Media Network
Ranthambore, May 19: Tiger lovers and wildlife activists are vehemently protesting the confinement being imposed upon a tiger called T-24 or Ustaad who is currently the prime accused in the killing of four men who are said to have walked into 'his' area instead of the other way round.
The tiger is one the most sighted ones on the park and it is believed that the victims are at fault for trespassing into his territory. The tiger, himself is not believed to have chased the humans. This is one of the main reasons that thousands of people have signed a petition on Change.org to release the tiger from its confinement back to its original home at Ranthambore.
The opinion on the matter is quite divided for there is one faction that absolutely condemns the actions of the tiger, while another claims, and justly so, that the tiger merely acted upon its inherent nature. While some have vilified the animal as a man-eater, many maintain that the animal has killed but not eaten anyone. The last person to die at the paws of the tiger was forest guard, Rampal Saini and his family firmly agree with the imprisonment of the tiger in order to stop it from killing any more people.
Wildlife expert Ajay Suri opines that instead of moving the tiger to Sajjangarh Biological park the authorities could have simply shifted the tiger to a less frequented quarter of the national park itself. He said, “There have been similar incidents in Corbett park where a tiger was blamed for killing a guard but they shifted it to the inner area. Shifting the tiger from its territory is not the only option.”
The Jaipur High Court will soon be hearing the PIL filed by Mr. Chandramauleshwar Singh who is a frequent visitor at Ranthambore and who is incensed at the forest authorities for moving the tiger. Mr. Singh believes that the tiger was moved due to lobbying by the local hoteliers who were not in favour of a resident man-eating tiger as it would be detrimental to their business.
On the other hand, Mr. Valmik Thapar who is India's most respected wildlife expert, reportedly said, "In my 40 years of experience of the tigers of Ranthambore, T-24 is the most dangerous tiger I have ever encountered."