Tiger moves out of Maharashtra wildlife sanctuary, kills villager in Madhya Pradesh

Khargone (MP), March 9

A 35-year-old man died when a tiger attacked him at a village in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone district after moving out of a wildlife sanctuary in North Maharashtra, officials said on Thursday.

The man, Santosh Bhaskare, suffered serious injuries after the tiger attacked him when he tried to scare away the wild animal using a stick in Khushiyali village on Wednesday evening, they said.

He was initially admitted to a hospital in Pandhana tehsil and later shifted to Khandwa district.

The 35-year-old was then referred to Indore for further treatment, but he succumbed to injuries en route near Barwah town, Bhikangaon’s sub-divisional officer (SDO) forest Dinesh Vaskel said.

The feline strayed into Madhya Pradesh from the Yawal wildlife sanctuary located in Jalgaon district of adjoining Maharashtra, another official said.

“The tiger strayed into the Chiriya forest area of Khargone district from Yawal and when villagers tried to scare away the big cat by using sticks, it attacked them, seriously injuring one of them,” Khargone’s divisional forest officer (DFO) Prashant Singh said.

Bhaskare, in order to scare away the big cat, hit the ground with a stick near the tail of the tiger which infuriated the wild animal and culminated in the fatal attack, he said.

Efforts to push the tiger back into its territory in Maharashtra proved futile, Singh said.

“After entering the Chiriya range, the tiger preyed on an animal and wanted to rest. The feline stayed in an agriculture field for nearly four hours in Khushiyali village,” Vaskel said.

Forest department officials are monitoring the movement of the tiger and have appealed to villagers not to trouble the big cat.