THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When the news broke that a 10-year-old tigress has escaped from its enclosure at the Neyyar Safari Park, hundreds of locals thronged the area. But forest authorities assured them that the tigress will not stray into human settlement as it is still within the 10-acre park.
While questions are still being raised on incident, a section of forest officials are peeved with the top authorities for not ensuring a proper rehabilitation centre for animals captured in Wayanad itself.
When TV channels beamed the news, rumours were rife that laxity on part of park officials caused it. But a section of officials are not convinced that the tigress, already stressed due to the long road trip from Wayanad, managed to widen the cage and escape. Prior to its capture from the human settlement, the animal had also encountered a harrowing time when the locals were up in arms against the local forest department officials.
J R Ani, Thiruvananthapuram Wildlife Warden, dismissed the allegation. “The tigress’ bite marks could be seen on the grille. Unfortunately our department lacks a proper asylum centre or a hospice in Wayanad. So there is no other way but to bring the captured animal to the Neyyar Safari Park,” Ani told TNIE.A senior forest official said that even after two years, the department has not taken the effort to set up an asylum centre or a hospice in Wayanad.
“An unwell leopard was recently brought to the park with rare zoonotic diseases. It had a parasite infection, till then not reported in South India. A health certificate was also not provided and such big cats stray into human settlement when the infection it carries aggravates,” a forest official told TNIE.