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Tiger Pinned To The Ground By Earthmover During Rescue Operation Dies After A Few Hours

A probe has been ordered into the rescue operation.
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A video that has gone viral shows a couple of animal rescuers trying to capture a tiger that had killed two people in the Bail Dev forest range in Nainital district in Uttarakhand.

According to a report in the Times Of India, the tiger was tranquilised before it was pinned down to the ground by a heavy duty earthmover, also known as a JCB. The tiger died a couple of hours after it was captured and brought to the Nainital Zoo. The post-mortem report mentions that the tiger died from "septicaemia, injuries and asphyxiation".

A team comprising National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) officials has been formed to probe if there were any violation of rules during the rescue operation. Parag Madhukar Dhakate, conservator of forests, Terai-West Circle, told TOI that the four-member team includes two wildlife experts, a forest officer and a vet.

One of the tiger's victims was a woman who had gone to the forest to collect grass. She was ambushed by the tiger which was hiding behind bushes and mauled to death. A team of villagers set out in search of the tiger within an hour and a half of the incident, when it pounced upon and dragged away one of them as well.

In the video, the tiger appears to have been tranquilised, when the rescuers pin him with the JCB. A rescuer can be heard saying, "Daba do! Daba do!" (Pin him! Pin him!) and "Payr bandho, payr!" (Tie its legs, its legs!)

You can watch the video here:

(With inputs from PTI)

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.