Woman, 65, killed by big cat in Pilibhit tiger reserve

Pilibhit: A mutilated body of a 65-year-old woman, allegedly killed in a big cat attack, was found inside Bagha forest beat under Mahof forest range in Pilibhit tiger reserve (PTR) around 7.30am on Wednesday. Forest personnel are yet to identify whether the feline was a tiger or a leopard.Officials said Parul Rai, a resident of Mahof Colony village, had left her house around 3pm on Tuesday to collect firewood from the adjacent buffer area of the reserve but did not return. Family members informed forest authorities who launched a search operation but dense fog in the evening hampered rescue efforts.Neuria SHO Subhash Mawi visited the site Wednesday morning and sent the body for postmortem. Divisional forest officer of PTR, Manish Singh, said pugmarks of the feline could not be traced due to a thick layer of fallen leaves. "There were no drag marks on the deceased's body, which negated villagers' claim that the woman was dragged into the forest by the animal," Singh said."We have installed four camera traps in the surrounding area to identify the feline. Field forest teams have also been deployed to monitor its movement and conduct surveillance," said the DFO. He said that despite repeated appeals from the department advising villagers to avoid entering the forest, they continued to violate the tiger reserve's rules.Singh said that since the fatal conflict occurred inside the forest area, the matter was not liable to be referred to the state govt for compensation. He said that entering these areas is a punishable offence under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.Notably, Mahof Colony village is situated near the interface between PTR's Mahof forest range and Surai forest range of Uttarakhand's Terai East forest division, and lacks security measures, including chain-link fencing.This was the first fatal man-animal conflict reported in the district this year. Last year, as many as seven people were reportedly killed in tiger attacks, with the last fatal attack occurring in July in Baithra Mandaria village, around 10-12km from PTR.