Friday, January 23, 2009

Drive to trap tigers gains momentum

LUCKNOW: A Rs 25-lakh grant from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and an wildlife expert from Uttarakhand government have pushed the state forest department into action mode on the stray tiger from on Monday.

The department announced that three separate teams of 100 members each would be engaged in the job of tackling the three tigers on prowl in Kheri, Faizabad and Ghazipur areas.

Prior to the announcement at a hurriedly convened press conference by chief wildlife warden BK Patnaik, the forest minister Fateh Bahadur Singh convened a meeting of wildlife and forest officials to take stock of the situation and left for Faizabad to meet the family members of the villager who fell prey to the tiger on Sunday. He is also learnt to have paid an ex-gratia relief of Rs 50,000 to the kin of the deceased.

The NTCA grant will be spent on mobile veterinary units equipped with vets, para-medics and wildlife staff to be stationed in areas where the big cats come out on the prowl in the human habitat. "To begin with, we would be deploying a vet unit each at Faizabad, Kheri and Ghazipur," said principal secretary, forest, Pawan Kumar, confirming that Rs 25 lakh grant has been sanctioned by the NTCA.

Soruce: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Lucknow/Drive_to_trap_tigers_gains_momentum/articleshow/4004642.cms

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