Pilibhit (Uttar Pradesh), Dec 29 (IANS): Officials in the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) are now trying to relocate a tigress that has wandered out of the reserve and is creating panic among the villagers.
Deputy Director of PTR, Naveen Khandelwal, said, "Our teams will first track the route of the tigress before laying cages. If need be we will also seek help from tranquilizing experts."
Four teams of forest rangers have been deployed in the area to track the movement of the tigress and lay cage traps.
The cages trap the animal without posing any threat to its health and can be transported to other place easily.
Reportedly, the adult tigress moved out of the core area of the reserve in mid-November and has been spotted around the nearby farms.
The movement of the tigress was earlier ignored by the forest officials.
"This kind of movement by a big cat is usual. Tigers can travel up to 40 kilometres in a single day. However, we got worried when several reports of the tigress sighting near villages were reported as this could lead to man-animal conflict which is harmful for both," the official said.
Located adjacent to the Indo-Nepal border, PTR has been a centre of man-animal conflict in the past.
More than 25 people have been killed by the big cats since November 2016.