The sub-adult tiger has mauled to death six villagers and injured an equal number in the last six months (from February 17 to July 25). Of those killed, four were attacked in Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM) area. Almost all the deaths have occurred after villagers ventured deep into the forest for illicit felling. Thakre wrote to chief wildlife warden Sarjan Bhagat on August 4 seeking permission to shoot the tiger.

Both tiger and panther are included in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and have been given full protection against hunting under Section 9 (1). They can be hunted only if they become dangerous to human life or if they are disabled or diseased as to be beyond recovery. Under Section 11 (1) (a), only the chief wildlife warden has been given the authority to permit any person to hunt such animals and before doing so he has to justify in writing the reasons thereof.

Bhagat confirmed that he has received written request from Chandrapur CCF. "I will not rush into taking a decision. We are exploring all options like trapping the tiger or tranquillizing it first with the help of live bait. Three teams are already working in the field but they were not successful owing to rains and thickets. For the past three days the animal has not been seen," Bhagat told TOI.

Similarly, the fact that a particular animal has killed more than one human being also does not label it as a man-eater. The circumstances under which the animal killed the human being have to be examined in detail to arrive at any conclusion, he said.

Wildlife experts have condemned the controversial move taken amid political pressure. The tiger cannot be shot owing to failures of villagers to maintain restraint and poor management by territorial department. The department doesn't have proper tranquillizing guns and it hired such guns from other places. "One of the guns did not even function when the tiger was sighted in the forest," official sources told TOI.

There should be monitoring of carnivore movement near human habitations through 'impression pads' created near water points and other sensitive areas, and record of such village level monitoring should be maintained in the gram sabha and panchayats. "This is never done. The field staff comes to know about tiger presence after a human or cattle kill. There is more than one tiger in Pombhurna. How will the department conclude it is the same tiger," experts questioned.

"Normal tigers do not attack humans except in self-defence. However, when a tiger's natural prey gets depleted in an area because of poaching, it is left with no choice but to kill livestock. Since livestock and humans are often found together, a tiger may sometimes accidentally kill a human," said Kishor Rithe, former member of National Board for Wildlife (NBWL).

"Humans are not usually part of the natural diet of tigers, who is crouched while cutting grass or answering the call of nature," said Prafulla Bhamburkar of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).

Meanwhile, CCF Thakre informed that three tranquillizing experts, aided by with veterinary doctors, have been deployed to capture the beast. Four live baits have been put in compartment no. 86 and 87 to lure the tiger and the area is under surveillance of camera traps.

Thakre added that villagers have been warned to avoid jungle and they are being provided firewood by the department. Sources involved in the operation claimed that the problem tiger twice killed the live baits kept around Ghanoti village.

Is NTCA Protocol Followed?

Before seeking permission to shoot the tiger, did forest officials take these steps

* Declaring peripheral areas of Tadoba like Pombhurna as a buffer zone for its management as a multiple use area, as required under Wildlife (Protection) Act to reduce conflicts

* Include Pombhurna in Tiger Conservation Plan for mainstreaming wildlife concerns in the tiger landscape among various sectors operating in the area

* Ensuring active, ecologically sustainable, integrated development for the benefit of local people living in the area, based on village specific micro plans

* Keeping track of cattle depredation by carnivores through wireless on a daily basis and ensuring timely compensation to affected people

* Deployment of tracking squads comprising front line staff and experienced local people and plotting day-to-day movement of the aberrant wild carnivore.

* Deploying 'watch team' for patrolling affected village area during night, involving locals. Also, deploy elephant squads.

* Deploying local workforce to prevent villagers from trespassing the affected area

WHEN AND WHERE TIGERS SHOT DEAD

* November 30, 2007

A full-grown male tiger was shot in Govindpur in Talodi range in Brahmapuri. It had tuned a man-eater and killed 7 villagers

* January 6, 2012

A three-year-old tiger was shot dead near Navegaon National Park after it killed five people