With sighting of T1's cubs, team of experts to help rescue them

A camera trap image of one of T1's cubs captured on Thursday

A team of experts, including veterinarians, will visit Pandharkawda for a recce of the area and help the forest department finalise the strategy to safely rescue the cubs of tigress T1.

"With the sighting of both cubs in a camera trap on November 15, we are very happy, because this evidence is a scientific slap in the face of some pseudo activists, who have been making baseless comments against forest department staff, who are taking efforts to track them," said a forest department official.

Vets from Maneka's list?
Union Minister Maneka Gandhi had sent a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis suggesting names of expert veterinarians from various states and a tiger tracker from Uttar Pradesh to help in the operation for rescuing the cubs, alleging that the Maharashtra FD was doing nothing.

While it is unclear whether the vets mentioned in the list given by Gandhi will be going to Pandharkawda, a forest department official said, "I cannot comment on the list given by Manekaji, but expert veterinarian Dr Parag Nigam from Wildlife Institute of India (WII), scientist Dr Bilal Habib from WII, Dr Akhilesh Misra from MP Forest Department along with a field director from Madhya Pradesh will visit Pandharkawda and help us prepare the strategy."

A senior official from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) also visited the Scene of Crime (SoC) (spot where the tigress was killed) on Friday to understand what exactly had happened.

Techniques part of SOPs
Last year expert veterinarian and forensic expert Dr Prayag H S had suggested some time-tested scientific techniques to capture T1 and her cubs, and sources from FD claim that these techniques which are also a part of NTCA's Stand Operation Procedures (SoP), are helping the forest department in tracking the cubs.

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