Two Dudhwa Reserve forest officials transferred after tiger deaths

Lucknow, June 13 The Uttar Pradesh government has transferred the field director of the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) B. Prabhakar and divisional forest officer (DFO) of North Kheri forest division S. Sundaresh, following deaths of four tigers in the reserve between April 21 and June 9.

The transfer orders came after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had sent state forest Minister Arun Kumar Saxena, along with additional chief secretary (forest) Manoj Singh and other senior officials, to the reserve on Saturday to probe the reasons behind the tiger deaths and submit a detailed report so as to "prepare a preventive action plan."

Chief conservator of Bareilly zone Lalit Verma has taken charge from Prabhakar, who will now look after the UP state biodiversity board as its secretary. DFO Sundaresh will now hold the same post in Etah district.

Also, principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF) Mamta Sanjeev Dube has issued written orders for attachment of three range officers, two deputy range officers and four forest inspectors to DTR forest offices so as "to ensure a transparent investigation by a committee of three experts assigned by the National Tiger Conservation Authority on June 10".

These officials were posted in forest range areas where tiger deaths were reported.

"We will visit the reserve at the earliest to conduct further probe in the matter," said former PCCF (wildlife) Shailesh Prasad, one of the members of the enquiry committee, which has been asked to submit its report within 15 days.

Experts are of the view that the increasing population of tigers and the shrinking forest area due to encroachments are the prime factors for infighting among the big cats.

"Since tigers are territorial animals, young felines get separated from their mothers at the age of around 24 months to live independently, but they face threats from adult tigers while marking out their own territory within the limited forest area," said a former PCCF (wildlife) of Uttar Pradesh.

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