When the tiger roams, criminals flee!
Patna: what does a tiger need to live – a good supply of prey, good places to hide from the human beings and water for drinking and cooling during intense summer heat. It would seem that large parts of Bihar can provide these facilities to the tigers. With a near abundant supply of neelgais, [not to mention the wild boars] their herds roaming several districts of Bihar, daily diet is no problem. A few days ago, a neelgai [antelope]was even found walking the lanes of Ashok Rajpath where it got trapped inside a shop. Is it really surprising thus that a tiger has decided to stay put in the diara region just across river from Patna? This enterprising tiger came trekking all the way from the Valmiki Tiger Reserve [VTR] on the Indo-Nepal border, covering a distance of 300 kms.
According to Dr Rajesh Gopal, member secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority [NTCA], ‘He has done this long march earlier and is presently ensconced close to Patna. Our main concern is he should not cause to any harm and should make his way back to the Valmiki Tiger Reserve.’ While the NTCA is worried that the tiger may hurt the local villagers and in the process become a target of retaliation, there are reports that criminal activity in the notorious riverine areas across the Ganga River is currently at a low ebb. People are being careful with their movement and that includes the toughies in the area.
Since VTR is located in the west Champaran district of Bihar and is contiguous to the Royal Chitwan park in Nepal, tigers have in the past undertaken long treks along the rivers right up to Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh. The Gandak river flows through the Valmiki park and tiger experts, following this tiger’s pug marks, vouch that this animal has a preference for walking along this river and has undertaken this self-driven expedition earlier also. A local DFO, a trained veterinarian who was tracking him some time ago got too close to the animal and got mauled. ‘He was trying to tranquillise him but happened to get very close to the animal that was hidden behind tall grasses,’ said a forest officer monitoring the tiger’s movements.
Thankfully, the tiger has steered clear of nearby villages thus far. A tiger expert from the Wildlife Trust of India and a special team of trekkers are keeping a close track of the animal. Given that tigers can easily walk up to 40 km a day, the area under surveillance is spread too far and wide. In the meantime, the only problem the tiger may face is that of loneliness that comes with the abundant food supply.