A tigress was seriously injured by a passenger train while crossing the railway track on Friday early morning. The accident occurred on Tumsar-Tirodi track in Bhandara district. The mishap took place near Dongri Buzurg Railway Station, which comes under the Nakadongri forest range of Bhandara Forest Department. After getting the information, forest teams from Bhandara and Navegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve (NNTR) rushed the spot and conducted the panchanama as per the SoP of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). Thereafter, the feline was tranquillised by the joint team, and sent to Gorewada Rescue Centre in Nagpur at 1 pm on Friday. The tail of the tigress severed in the incident.

 

The veterinarian team first checked the health and the wound of the tiger and then sent it to Nagpur for further treatment. Dr L K Barapatre, Veterinarian; Dr Ashish Gatkal, Livestock Development Officer; Dr Vitthal Hatwar, Livestock Development Officer; Dr Meghraj Tulavi, Livestock Development Officer; and Rahul Gawai, DCF, Bhandara inspected the spot and checked the injured tigress.

 

During the operation, Shahid Khan, Honorary Wildlife Warden, Bhandara and NTCA representative; Jude Picher; Ritesh Bhongde; Apeksha Shende; and staff from forest department, police department and Indian Railways were present. On receiving the information, Deputy Forest Conservator Rahul Gawai, Assistant Forest Conservators Ritesh Bhongade, Sachin Nilakh and Sanjay Mendhe, along with other Forest Department employess rushed to the spot. After that, teams from Bhandara and Navegaon Nagzira Tiger Reserve were called to the site for the rescue of the injured tigress. Due to the accident, the trains were stopped on the route for about 9 hours. Initially the tigress was tranqualised, and first-aid was given to the injured feline at Forest Department’s Chicholi Depot, after which it was sent to Gorewada Rescue Centre for further treatment.