Camera traps laid at Kuilong to track Tiger's presence
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, July 11 2021: A team of Forest Department on Saturday reached Kuilong Part-2 village under Tamei sub-division of Tamenglong district, where an attack on cattle by wild animal supposed to be a tiger took place on July 6, and started laying camera traps to verify the presence of Tiger.

Speaking to TPC late night on Saturday, the team leader and district forest officer Senapati Kh Hitler informed that the team consisting of himself, range officer Tamei Kh Johnson and four forest guards reached Kuilong on Saturday morning.

At the village, the team met with village chairman and other villagers and went to inspect the site where the cattle were attacked and spotted pieces of guts of the animals that were attacked, he added.

Hitler mentioned that the team laid two camera traps out of the six they had taken at the outer rims of a thick forest which is almost 1 km away from the village.

On Sunday they will install another two traps at the innermost part of the forest where the suspected Tiger may have passed through.

It takes five hours of trekking to reach the forest and the camera traps will be installed at a place which is 7-8 km deep inside the jungle, he informed.

DFO Senapati also said that the camera traps were laid with the help of local villagers who guided them to the forest and carried firearms in case of any incident.

The team will return after installing the traps on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Kuilong Part-2 village chairman Hippy speaking via phone stated that villagers are afraid of going out for their daily chores due to fear of Tiger.

The villagers were ready to kill the animal if they were to encounter it, but as they were told that government does not allow their killing, they have agreed not to do so.

But, most of the villagers survive on cattle farming, he said and appealed to the government to compensate the affected villagers.

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