Tiger kills one more in Pench buffer, angry villagers attack forest vehicle

Nagpur: A tiger claimed the life of a farmer in the Paoni (Unified Control) range in the buffer zone of Pench Tiger Reserve on Wednesday. Sukram Guntu Saryam, 55, of Jamuniya village, became the 11th victim of tiger attacks in the last four years and the seventh in the past eight months within the Pench landscape.

Saryam, the father of the deputy sarpanch of Dahoda, was on his way to his farm in the evening to protect his cotton and paddy crops when a tiger, lurking in the bushes, attacked him. The tiger dragged Saryam's body and tore it apart, leaving his remains scattered across compartment number 246 in Tuiyapaar beat, with his skull found at a separate location.

When the victim did not return home the next morning, a search was launched, leading to the discovery of his dismembered body. The incident sparked outrage among the local residents, who expressed their frustration with the park authorities for their inability to monitor the tigers and address the problem. They damaged a forest vehicle, prompting the intervention of the police to control the situation.

On September 17, a woman farmer named Nita Buddhu Kumbhare, 55, from Jhinjeria, was mauled by a tigress, which led to violence in the area. More recently, on October 6, a grazier fell victim to a tiger attack in the Paoni territorial forest.

Forest sources have criticised the department for their apparent inability to identify the tigers involved in these conflicts, despite having access to a database. They attribute this failure to a lack of foot patrolling and proper monitoring by the officials.

The sources also pointed out the recent capture of a young tiger from Piparia, which was not involved in the conflict but ended up breaking its tooth in the cage and is now confined for life in Gorewada. Meanwhile, the problem tigress responsible for the attacks remains at large.

The recurring incidents of tiger attacks on farmers and villagers in the Pench buffer zone have highlighted the urgent need for the forest department to take effective measures to ensure the safety of the local population while also protecting the wildlife in the region. The department must work towards identifying the problem tigers, increasing foot patrolling, and implementing strategies to mitigate human-wildlife conflict in the area.