The Tiger was walking unusually slowly. The agility of this tiger in Nagarhole Tiger Reserve in Karnataka was missing that day. Its gait was not steady either. The forest staff tracked her down only to find her licking her paw. They felt something was amiss. The same day some tourists too spotted that tiger limping in the tourist zone of NTR. They shot its video and showed it to the forest department of the Tiger Reserve.
The team got concerned about the well-being of the tiger. They crossed checked and found that it’s the same tiger (NH 20- U4) that was hurt somehow. She needed help. And if medical help didn’t reach her in time, the wound might deteriorate, threatening even his life. In the jungle, only the fittest survive. The weak and injured life their right to live.
Forest department under DCF, NTR Mr. Harsha Kumar Chikkanaragund decided to swing into action immediately. They are the vanguards of the forest and its animals. They help all animals in distress and the tiger anyway is the king of the forest.
Speaking to Indian Masterminds, Mr Harsha Kumar Chikkanaragund shared the details of how this whole operation of treating the tiger was carried out.
VIDEOGRAPHED BY TOURISTS
After seeing the video from the tourist the forest team immediately went to locate the tiger. Camp elephants were deployed to track and record its video. The tracking took some time. They started in the morning and were able to spot her only around the afternoon. “We shot the video and compared it to the previous on. It was important to identify and ensure the tiger is the same. Otherwise, the whole operation could have gone in vain”, he said.
TRANQUILIZED
The next step was to tranquilize the tiger. That’s the job of veterinary doctors. So a team was sent to fetch the vets. The dart team moved on elephants and at 1.30 pm, the tiger was tranquilized and carried to the doctors. A tranquilizer is effective on tigers only for 20 to 30 minutes. So, medical team had to be both quick and careful.
TERRITORIAL FIGHT
During the initial observation, they found out nail marks, and canine biting on the tiger. Its paw was badly hurt. That was the reason she was limping.
The marks indicated that it was engaged in a territorial fight with another tiger which led to the injuries. These fights are quite common among tigers as they are ferociously guarding their territory which can go up to 100 sqaure kilometers.
THE TREATMENT
The vets looked after her and treated the injured paw. They had to be careful with the treatment as Tiger keeps licking its wound. She was heavily sedated and did not create any scare for the medical team. Then they revived her.
The team put her under observation in an iron cage for three hours and then opened the cage. The tiger was fit now as she was seen jumping out and moving so fast.
FIRST INCIDENT
It is the first time when such an operation has been carried out in Karnataka. Never has a tiger been tranquilized for treatment and released back in the forest. Usually, tigers are held captive after interaction with human beings. An Injured tiger is always said to be more dangerous than a healthy tiger.
Mr. Harsha said that although her jump out of the cage was an indication of her well-being the forest officials are still tracking & monitoring her to ensure that she survived.
