Carcass of adult tigress found on railway track in Kheri

PILIBHIT: The carcass of a tigress, estimated to be five to six years old, was found on the Mailani-Lucknow railway track near Bhikhampur halt on Wednesday morning. Forest officials suspect the animal was struck by a train while crossing the railway line that cuts through the buffer zone of Mailani forest range under North Kheri forest division.Field director of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, H Rajamohan, and North Kheri divisional forest officer, Kirti Chaudhary, reached the spot to take stock of the situation. Officials said the tigress showed no external injury, but the train hit the feline’s head with an impact that caused severe internal injuries, killing her instantly.“The jaw and heart were found severely dislocated. Excessive bleeding was found in almost every internal organ of the tigress that also caused hemopericardium.

The lungs were filled with fluid due to the heavy impact of the strike,” Rajamohan said. DFO Chaudhary said the autopsy, conducted by a panel of three veterinary officers led by Dr Daya Shankar of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, revealed the time of the death around 11pm on Tuesday, coinciding with the passage of three trains passing through the track. “Following the assigned protocol, the designated representatives of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and state chief wildlife warden remained present during the autopsy,” she said.

She added that despite issuing a series of letters and notices to railway authorities to install speedometers at the railway line with the forest stretches to monitor the trains’ speed and to keep it within the permitted maximum limit of 30kmph, it was never complied with.“A departmental case has been registered under the Wildlife Protection Act. The railway authorities will be brought within the ambit of stringent legal action if investigation confirms the train strike,” she added.Taking serious cognisance,NTCA member secretary Sanjay Kumar Pathak told TOI, “The NTCA will strictly enforce speed-related norms on roads and highways passing through the forest areas as well as critical tiger habitats or the railway lines. It will be ensured that the Indian Railways takes essential steps to fully comply with the concerned directions to protect wildlife from fatal accidents.”