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Haa:
A tiger caught
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| Sub-tropical Royal Bengal Tiger with its prey |
| Farmers
in Tsaphey village in Haa dzongkhag are breathing easy after
a male Royal Bengal Tiger which killed four animals in the village
was sedated and caged on November 3, 2005.
In
the early hours of November 1, the tiger pounced on a pregnant mare, killed
it, and dragged it about 20 metres before devouring almost half the carcass.
It was the fourth animal that the tiger killed in 20 days. "That was the
second kill in four days," said Ugyen Lham who had lost a jersey cow three
days earlier. |
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The
tiger, measuring about 2.04 metres, killed a cow on October 16 but the
villagers had recovered the carcass before the tiger could eat it.
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| Farmers
and forestry officials had kept vigil on the night when the tiger killed
the mare. "We saw it attacking a neighbour's pig sty and didn't sleep the
whole night," said Dorji. "But before we knew, it had killed my mare."We
have heard of tigers but never seen one," said Dorji. Farmers had seen
pugmarks many times and started keeping their cattle and horses in the
ground floor of their homes.
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The
nature conservation division of the department of forest identified the
tiger as a Royal Bengal Tiger whose usual habitat was in the tropical
and sub tropical open grasslands. "We have surveyed the area but never
came across a tiger," said a tiger specialist, Sangay, who prefers to be
called Tiger Sangay.
Tsaphey
is about 2,670 meters above the sea level. Dr. Sangay Wangchuk, NCD's
joint director, said that the tiger in Tsaphey had come prowling for easy
prey. "The tiger is old, weak and cannot hunt its natural prey," he said.
"It came looking for easier prey like domestic animals because they are
not adapted to running away from predators like tigers."
Tiger
Sangay added that the tiger had lost most of its claws, both canine teeth
in the left jaw, and it's paws were infected. The specialist estimates
the tiger to be more than 15 years old.
The
tiger in Tsaphey was the third Royal Bengal Tiger confirmed in the
alpine regions of Bhutan, according to the division. Dr. Sangay Wangchuk
said that the change in habitat for the Bengal Tiger could be because of
the encroachment on tiger habitats in the foothills from human activities.
"Bhutan with its intact natural environment provides a good habitat for
tigers," he said.
Meanwhile,
NCD is building a temporary enclosure in Taba to house the tiger. Officials
said that the tiger is too weak to be released in the wild. "If we let
it go it will die because it is too weak to hunt," Tiger Sangay said.
| Contributed
by Ugyen Penjore, KUENSEL, Bhutan's National Newspaper |
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