GUWAHATI: A Royal Bengal tigress was hunted down in Nagaland where there is no official record of the animal’s sighting ever before.
The tigress was hunted down in Medziphema village, some 30 km away from the state’s commercial hub Dimapur, on Monday. As the animal unleashed terror by raiding livestock, a group of 70 youth, most of them armed with bore guns, entered a nearby jungle to “scare” and “chase” it away.
“During the search, one of them spotted the tigress but before he could raise an alarm, the animal pounced upon him, injuring him grievously. Soon, some in the group fired shots targeting the animal, killing it on the spot,” an Army colonel told Express.
“They had no intention to kill the animal but scare and chase it away. Unfortunately, shots were fired to save the youth,” the locals said. As the news spread like wildfire, the forest officials, as well as the police, went to the site to retrieve the carcass but the locals put up a resistance, refusing to part with it.
They cited customary belief of bravery and honour and the prestige of the village attached to the feat. Several hours later, they relented following the intervention of senior officials of the administration, who enlightened them of the legal implications of hunting the endangered animal.
The state’s Chief Wildlife Warden, Satyaprakash Tripathy, said they were awaiting the report of post-mortem, which was conducted on Tuesday.
According to National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), there is no record of the animal’s sighting in the state.