An adult tigress was beaten to death by a group of villagers in Pilibhit Tiger Reserve in west Uttar Pradesh on Thursday afternoon, forest officials said.
The officials have lodged an FIR against 31 named and 12 unidentified people. The accused have charged under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960.
The tigress was about 5 years old and she died of broken ribs and injuries to her body. The tigress was cremated after a post mortem.
Confirming the incident, field director of Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) Raja Mohan said, “The tigress was five years old. The villagers attacked her near Deuria. Her carcass was recovered on Thursday morning.”
WATCH:
Warning : this is disturbing content . A 5 year old adult tigress was beaten to death by villagers in UP’s #Pilibhit on thursday afternoon . In this mobile video shot by a villager , there ‘s even background commentary on why they are killing the tigress ! Really sad ! pic.twitter.com/FY7ToT3TGA
— Alok Pandey (@alok_pandey) July 26, 2019
“A forest team did reach the spot but by that time, the tigress was in so much pain that even an attempt to tranquillize her would have added to her plight,” Pilibhit District Magistrate Vaibhav Shrivastava said.
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According to the officer, the tigress allegedly attacked a villager in Mataina village near compartment number 12 of PTR after she was surrounded and attacked brutally by villagers.
A team of forest officials reached the spot almost three hours after the attack. By that time, the tigress has limped back inside the forest.