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Humans have done more harm to their surroundings than they have worked for its development.
In a heartbreaking accident, that took place on Friday December 20, a pregnant tigress was crushed to death by a speeding vehicle on the Ramnagar-Haldwani road.
Speaking on the incident, the wildlife warden of Uttarakhand Forest Department said:
Losing a tigress that was expecting three cubs to a road accident is absolutely shocking, and we have directed the concerned officials to identify the vehicle so that the culprit can be punished.
In a plea to visiting families and tourists, he said:
We are urging tourists, visitors and residents to be watchful while driving, particularly while passing through a forest area. We cannot afford to lose our precious animals to rash driving.
Notably, the incident occurred at the Western Circle a week after the Uttarakhand Forest Department received the ‘Bagh Mitra’ award by WWF-PATA for the best tiger conservation in the district.
Though forest officials explained the site doesn’t have a CCTV camera they believed the surveillance cameras set up at the approaching road might be able to identify the culprit.
This is a case of roadkill, not poaching. The impact was clearly visible on the body of the tigress. We have a forest checkpost around 4 km away from the accident site. We will be able to track vehicles and investigate the matter.
Since 2001, apart from 15 tigers, 133 tigers and 64 elephants have also lost their lives due to accidents.