Forest Department sniffer dog ‘Rana’ traces scent of poachers

Hanagodu: The tiger that was found dead in the Kallahalla Range of Nagarahole Tiger Reserve on Tuesday was shot dead by poachers. The post-mortem that was conducted yesterday revealed gunshot wounds. 

Forest officials said that this was the first such poaching incident involving a tiger in Nagarahole National Park in recent years. The carcass of the tiger was found on Tuesday evening near Tattekere Haadi in the Kallahalla Range of the Tiger Reserve. Poachers had chopped off its forelegs and hind legs and its canines were also removed.

Initially, the Forest Department suspected that the big cat would have died due to territorial fight and some people had removed the canines and chopped off the claws after they found the body deep inside the forest. But post-mortem confirmed that the feline was indeed shot and bullet wounds have been found on the carcass. 

Rana, the German Shepherd sniffer dog at Bandipur Tiger Reserve, was brought to the spot and tracing the scent, the dog landed at a house near the Karmad Gate in Kodagu district on the fringes of the Tiger Reserve. Forest officers found wild animal meat stored inside a room in the house and also found bones of other animals stored in containers. However, the tiger’s claws and canines could not be traced. 

Though the officials are tight-lipped, sources told Star of Mysore that a person by name Satish has been picked up for questioning.

It may be mentioned here that Rana, which was inducted into Bandipur Forest Department to protect the forest from poachers, has been successful in nabbing timber smugglers and poachers by going straight into their houses and thus helping the officials. The poaching incident has prompted high-level officers to visit the spot and a special team has been formed to trace the poachers. Officers are contacting their informers in the tribal haadis to obtain clues about the poachers. Officials said that they have already obtained certain clues and poachers will be nabbed soon. 

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) – Wildlife Ajai Mishra, Addl. PCCF and Field Director-Project Tiger Jagat Ram, Conservator of Forests Mysuru Circle T. Heeralal and Director of Nagarahole Tiger Reserve Mahesh Kumar visited the spot.