BENGALURU: An 11-year-old tigress was injured on Friday following a fight with another male near Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR), Kundhakere range boundary.
While territorial fights are common in forests, the matter becomes a concern when the animals are outside the forest boundary. More than handling animals, managing the crowd becomes a bigger challenge, said BTR director, S Prabhakaran.
As locals and tourists started to gather to capture the incident, one of the tigers ran back into the wild. Crowds, however, continued to film the injured tigress. The foresters said they were alerted at 9.30 am, and were able to rescue the tigress two and a half hours later. Initial medical examination revealed that the tigress has severe injuries on her body. Her forelimbs are severely injured. Keeping in mind her age and injuries, she is unlikely to be released back into the wild, said the rescue centre team.
The stripped carnivore was shifted to Chamundi Animal Conservation, Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre in Koorgalli, Mysuru post noon.
Officials cautioned people around wild animals. They should maintain a safe distance and immediately inform foresters or experts in case of any sightings. “In this case, one tiger was injured and the other ran back into the wild. There have been instances where animals lose their path and run towards human areas, and eventually injure people. The biggest challenge in all wildlife operations is crowd management, more so when it involves tigers, leopards, elephants and sloth bears,” said a veterinarian official.