Saved from shooting orders, she died of electrocution
"She was just 25 meters away from me. I darted her...
"She was just 25 meters away from me. I darted her with a tranquiliser but missed it due to thick foliage. I'm sure I'll be able to tranquilise her in couple of days. After that, I have decided to take her to Madhya Pradesh. She is just a child right now and will take some time to learn how to survive in the wild," Wasif Jamshed, the tranquiliser expert told me on Friday evening.
He was talking about Kismet, an 18 month old tigress against whom the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) AK Mishra issued orders to shoot for killing humans in June this year. Before Jamshed could tranquilise her, Kismet died yesterday around 3:30 am, due to electrocution in a live electric wire farm fence put up by a farmer to keep away herbivores.
When did it all begin?
It was on May 18 this year that the tigress, belonging to the Bramhapuri divisional forest in Chandrapur district, Maharashtra was said to have made its first kill. The forest area, that sits adjacent to the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, has 32 tigers, considered a very healthy population for a non-protected area. There were reports of regular attacks by T27-C1 (Kismet) till June 23, when one more person was killed. Following public outcry from Bramhapuri villages, the same day, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) (PCCF) A K Mishra ordered that she be shot. (indianexpress.com). In Bramhapuri, it was believed that the tiger had killed two people.
Soon after, tiger lover Jerryl Banait approached the High Court , contending that proper NTCA guidelines and standard operating procedures had not been followed in declaring Kismet a maneater. After Dr. Banait's petition, the Nagpur Bench of Bombay high court asked the PCCF to withdraw his orders to shoot the mammal.
On June 29, the court ordered that the tigress be tranquilised and captured. On July 10, Nawab Shaukat Ali, one of India’s last tiger catchers, captured the tiger.
