[Bengia Ajum]
MAYUDIA, 5 Feb: Two days after head constable Chikseng Manpang was killed by a tiger in Lower Dibang Valley district, a sub-adult tigress was found dead in the same area on Wednesday night.
A team of forest officials deployed to capture the tigers discovered the carcass of the young tigress. According to sources, authorities recovered a bullet from the tiger’s head.
The officials believe that a kartus gun was used to kill the animal. “We were setting traps to capture the tiger when we discovered the carcass. The young tigress was shot in the head, and the bullet appears to be from a kartus gun,” said a forest department official.
The sub-adult tigress was believed to be around two years old. “She was part of a family that included her mother and another sub-adult tiger, but both sub-adult tigers had gone independent in recent months,” the official added.
The environment, forest and climate change department has formed multiple teams and is continuing the effort on the ground to capture the tigers.
Lower Dibang Valley Deputy Commissioner Fwwrman Brahma said that a wildlife offence report has been initiated by the divisional forest officer (wildlife) under relevant wildlife protection laws.
Meanwhile, the department has constituted a team for overseeing the necropsy (postmortem) and disposal of the tigress’ carcass as per the SOP of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
The team includes Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary DFO Mito Rumi as chairman, and its members are Itanagar Biological Park Veterinary Officer Dr Tadap Sorang, WTI CRBC senior veterinary surgeon Dr Panjit Basumatary, Senior Veterinary Officer (Roing) Dr Subi Migri, Veterinary Officer (Roing) Dr Techi Ana, and honorary wildlife warden Ipra Mekola.
The mutilated body of head constable Chikseng Manpang was found on Tuesday morning in the Mayudia area after an extensive search. Manpang was reportedly attacked and killed by a tiger family on Monday evening, between 7:00 and 7:30 pm, while he was riding a bike from Anini to Roing in Dibang Valley district.
A native of Manfaiseng village in Namsai district, Manpang was a wireless telecom operator with the state police and was posted in Roing. He had been deputed to Anini for duty during the Cabinet Aapke Dwar programme and was returning home when the incident occurred.
