DEHRADUN: An adult tigress that was shot dead by forest staff last November on grounds that it was a man-eater, after it had strayed from the jungles and dashed straight into a market in Almora, was 'innocent' and not a maneater, as per a NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority) committee report.

The committee was constituted in December and its report was prepared in March.

The report, accessed by TOI now, states, "It is quite evident that the tigress had shown calm behaviour and had not attacked any human...it did not appear to be a threat to human life."The report confirms that the tigress was killed by forest staff as reported by TOI then and not by a villager.At that time, forest authorities had expressed confusion over who shot the animal due to the presence of villagers on the spot.The committee observed that the tigress "was hungry and searching for its kill which she made the previous night".

In its concluding six points of the report, it mentions, "During this whole incident of tigress killing in Marchula market, the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and the guidelines and SOPs issued by NTCA are blatantly violated."The team appreciated efforts of the forest team for being readily available whenever they were summoned by the villagers or fellow colleagues.

However, the usage of arms to kill the tigress has been tagged as being "unwise".The report concludes that the state government should take action against all the forest officers "responsible for the grave violation of rules and guidelines meant for conservation of tigers".

The report also recommended training of Corbett Tiger Reserve staff.

It further pointed out that the way firearms are used in Corbett Tiger Reserve also needs to be streamlined as "there is no set protocol or a robust system in place".Uttarakhand has lost 12 tigers so far this year and with the onset of monsoon which increases the probability of poaching, an alert has been sounded across Corbett and Rajaji.