Get ready for tiger tourism. A tiger from the Pilbhit reserve forest wandered into the village Atkona, 20 km from the reserve. The beast was seen resting on the boundary wall of a farmer's house and the walls of Gurdwara unfettered by the growing crowd gathered to see the tiger. This is, however, not a new scene in District Pilbhit where tigers often enter villages adjoining the reserve. Such ‘tiger tourism‘ is commonplace here.
According to villagers, a tiger came into the village on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday. It sat atop the wall of a farmer Shindu Singh. People woke up to the barking of stray dogs and then saw the wild cat squatting on the wall.
The officials of the forest department are there on the spot to rescue the big cat. People from neighbouring villages came to watch how a tiger tours their ‘habitat'.
Know about Pilbhit Tiger Reserve
The Pilibhit Tiger Reserve is located in districts Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri and Bahraich of Uttar Pradesh. The sanctuary is one of the finest examples of the exceedingly diverse and productive Terai ecosystems. It was declared in September 2008 based on its special type of ecosystem with vast open spaces and sufficient feed for elegant predators. It is India's 45th project of this type. The northern edge of the reserve lies along the Indo-Nepal border while the southern boundary is marked by the river Sharada and Khakra.
The park boasts an outstanding variety of wildlife creatures in India especially mammals including royal Bengal tigers, leopards, wild dogs, wolves, hyenas and small cats. One can also see the largest Indian deers i.e. sambar, nilgai, chital, chousingha and chinkara in the vicinity. As far as bird species is concerned, there are about 200 avifauna found in the area.
The BuckStopper, run by a group of seasoned journalists, holds the powerful accountable. The buck stops with them, as they cannot shrug off their official responsibilities.