#SaveUstad

#SaveT24

Case of wrongful relocation of T-24 from Ranthambore

Tiger Reserve

On 8th May, 2015, a tiger was involved in a case of man-animal

conflict on the Main Road inside Ranthambore Tiger Reserve
around 5:30 PM. A forest guard, Rampal Saini, lost his life after
being mauled by the tiger in self-defense because he was on
foot, unarmed and got too close to the tiger.
Following the incident, some renown local personalities along
with a few forest guards tried to track and identify the tiger and
failed to conclusively do so. Only a camera trap picture of T-24
at the site of the incident was captured much later, which also
wasn't conclusive proof that T-24 was responsible for the death
of the forest guard.
Without any scientific probe or investigation into circumstances
of the incident, it was declared that T-24 was responsible for the
attack and the tiger displayed traits of a man-eater.
Even in the absence of a proper investigation, they rapidly
arranged to capture and relocate the tiger to a small enclosure
at Sajjangarh near Udaipur on May 16, 2015.
As per the statement issued by Deputy Conservator Forests T
Mohan Raj, Sajjangarh FD was asked to prepare for relocation of
T-24 without any approvals from PCCF, Jaipur.
[Reported in Economic Times on 17th May, 2015]
At the same time, the necessary NTCA approvals were also not
taken and the Standard Operating Procedure as laid down by
NTCA guidelines was violated.
[Reported in Times of India on 18th May, 2015]
This operation has been carried out with undue haste and in
secrecy, jeopardizing the tiger's life and in clear violating the
Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
We wish to submit detailed aspects pertaining to this issue:
1. This tiger is around 8 years old and still in his prime. He is
fathering two cubs along with tigress T-39 (christened Noor).
Relocation of T-24 from Ranthambore will jeopardize the lives of
the two cubs because another males tiger may kill them. It also
risks T-39 (Noor) leaving the area.

#SaveUstad
#SaveT24

2. The dominant male tiger's territory is uniquely bordered with

human settlements all over and is the largest territory of any
male tiger in Ranthambore Tiger Reserve.
3. The Main Road in Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, also the site of
the incident, falls in the territory of T-24. The Main Road is used
by thousands of pilgrims, walking on foot, to visit the Ganesh
Temple inside the Ranthambore Fort, every Wednesday. Till
date, Ustad has not attacked even one pilgrim.
4. T-24 (Ustad) has been a big tourist attraction not only for
tourists visiting the Tiger Reserve but even the pilgrims to the
temple as he has been sighted several times sitting in grass,
close to the Main Road.
Thousands of nature lovers, photographers and casual visitors
to the reserve have flocked to see him, and he has enthralled
them over the years. He has never attacked a single tourist.
5. However, T-24 has been involved in three such similar
incidents earlier.
July 2010, in an area adjacent to the Ranthambore Bagh
resort, within the forest reserve, T-24 mauled a tree feller
who attacked T-24 by throwing an axe at him.
In 2012, at Mirza Ghati, mauled his victims, both who were
illegally in the forest for tree felling and got too close to the
tiger.
Again in 2012, an Assistant Forester, Mr. Gheesu Singh,
who was supervising road works in the forest, accidentally
got too close to T-24, who was hiding in the bushes, when
he went to relieve himself.
It should be duly noted that in the first two cases, T-24
(Ustad) did consume some flesh from the victims' body
and would not leave the bodies until he was forcefully
shooed away by bursting firecrackers.
In the third incident, T-24 (Ustad) could not consume the
meat of the Asst. Forester, as his team of labourers, etc.
managed to pull him away.
6. On May 8, 2015, at around 5:00 PM, Rampal Saini's wife
entered the Tiger Reserve to cut grass/wood and noticed a
tiger nearby. She called up her husband, Rampal Saini, a forest

#SaveUstad
#SaveT24

guard, who was posted at the main gate to record vehicle

entries into the Tiger Reserve.
Rampal Saini ventured into the forest on foot, unarmed and not
knowing where tiger was, walked too close to the tiger and got
attacked from behind.
It is alleged that Rampal Saini did so, paying no heed to the
warnings of his fellow forest guards. Some people even alleged
that he was trying to show the tiger to nearby visitors/pilgrims.
It is also alleged that upon being attacked by the tiger, the
people present at the site of the incident, used a Maruti Alto to
hit the tiger so that the tiger leaves Rampal Saini's body.
If any of the alleged events stated above did take place, they
would have distressed the tiger and caused it to behave much
more aggressively.
This suspected distressed and aggressive behaviour was also
observed by the team of renown local personalities and forest
guards who were tracking the tiger after the incident. The
Tracking team termed the tiger's behaviour "dangerous for
humans" and that of a "man-eater tiger".
7. Two forest guards, who saw the tiger that killed Rampal
Saini, reported that the tiger was T-72 (christened Sultan), who
is T-24's son from his previous litter and shares a common
territory with T-24, his father.
It was also reported by a local resort owner and some others
that T-24 (Ustad) was seen at the site of the incident an hour
after the killing took place and that T-24 was observed sniffing
the ground and licking dried blood of the victim.
Based on the past incidents involving T-24 (Ustad), had T-24
been the killer, he would not have left the body and stayed
right there to consume it.
This is contradictory to the statements of the forest guards and
the resort owner. Thus, establishing that the investigating
parties could not positively identify the tiger responsible for
Rampal Saini's death.

#SaveUstad
#SaveT24

8. The tracking team of renown local personalities and forest

guards reported observing aggressive behaviour of the tiger,
specifically when one of them fell out of the vehicle while
tracking the tiger. Some veteran wildlife photographers term it
as normal big cat behaviour because big cats get instinctively
alert (or even aggressive enough to mock charge) seeing
humans on foot.
9. Unduly influenced by the conclusions of the tracking team,
the forest guards filed a report, concluding that T-24 (Ustad)
was responsible for the death of the forest guard Rampal Saini
and that the tiger was a man-eater.
It is suspected that due to the influential social status of the
local personalities involved in the post-incident proceedings,
the Forest Dept. issued orders to capture and cage this tiger.
The local personalities involved in this "decision making
process" included resort owners and local political leaders.
The forest guards also gave a written letter to the Conservator
Forests, Sawai Madhopur, refusing to go on foot patrols
anymore, fearing for their lives.
10. Local leaders probably feared a risk to pilgrims visiting the
temple and put pressure on the Forest Department. Pilgrims
visiting the temple are a big source of local income for the
transporters, shopkeepers, etc., and this business could get
affected.
11. Some local resort owners allegedly wanted the tiger
relocated as they feared attacks on humans at their property,
bordering T-24's territory.
This especially in the light of the fact that the first incident in
2010, involving T-24 (Ustad), took place on the periphery of the
property of a resort owner.
12. Most importantly, sources confirm that Ustads
tourism value was now on the decline. He would make
very infrequent appearances in his territory, and
sightings were rare. His exit could pave the way for his
son Sultan, a far more visible tiger, to step into his
fathers territory. The powerful lobby of resort owners
4

#SaveUstad
#SaveT24

wants visible tigers to show their clients, hidden tigers

do not bring in big bucks.

Bowing down to the pressure from resort owners, local

politicians and the guards who go on daily foot patrols, in a
knee-jerk response, the Forest Department decided to relocate
T-24 to Sajjanpur on 9th May, 2015.
The committee, formed by the Forest Department as per NTCA
guidelines, reached the conclusion that T-24 (Ustad) was the
culprit, despite the lack of conclusive evidence.
The committee also decided that T-24 was a "danger to
humans" and a "man-eater tiger" without conducting any
scientific study or proper investigation based on the guidelines
laid down by NTCA in the event of a man-animal conflict.
It was an unfortunate chain of events, on 14th May, 2015,
another incident of mauling involving tigress T-30 took place in
Khandar village because two villagers went too close to the
mother of two tiger cubs, to click pictures.
The Hon. CM of Rajasthan was wrongfully briefed by the
committee on the recent attacks by tigers, all of which were
blamed on T-24, following which the CM's office issued the
capture & relocation orders. This was done without prior
approval from the Chief Wildlife Warden or the NTCA.
Here are some of the rapid developments in chronological
order:
May 13, 2015
A wildlife lover, Shri Chandrabhal Singh, representing the
interests of thousands of nature lovers, sent a legal notice to
the Forest Dept., for violating the provisions of the Wildlife
(Protection) Act, 1972 in ordering the relocation without
scientific assessment and investigation.
May 14, 2015
Rajasthans Minister for Forests Shri Rajkumar Rinwa declared
that a high-power committee will be set up to study the case of
T-24 (Ustad) and no action regarding relocation shall be taken
till the committee files a report.
May 15, 2015
5

#SaveUstad
#SaveT24

The committee setup by Forest Department, Sawai Madhopur,

consisting of an influential group with local vested interests
bypassed the order of Minister of Forests, and directly
approached the Hon. CM of Rajasthan, Smt. Vasundhara Raje to
get the relocation order passed.
May 16, 2015
Shri Chandrabhal Singh wrote to the Hon. Rajasthan CM,
informing her of the legal notice served previously and urging
her to revoke the relocation order. Sadly, it was ignored, and the
Forest Department proceeded to capture the tiger and relocate
him.
T-24 (Ustad) was captured while he was sharing a Sambhar kill
with his family, T-39 (Noor) and the two cubs were in the same
area. The male tiger T-24 was tranquilized and transported
nearly 500 kms away to Sajjangarh near Udaipur.
It is reported that his enclosure at Sajjangarh would be 5 Sq.
Km. as compared to his territory of 40 Sq. Km. at Ranthanmore
Tiger Reserve.
Shri Chandrabhal Singh has now filed a Writ Petition in the
Vacation Bench, Delhi High Court against the hastily conducted
relocation that has put T-24 (Ustad) and his entire family at risk.
The Honourable Court will hear the petition on May 18, 2015 at
9:30 AM.
News reports are coming in that the NTCA has ordered
an enquiry into this incident, since the investigation
committee neither consulted them, nor were the NTCA
guidelines followed in the decision-making process of
the committee.

OUR APPEAL
We request you to intervene on behalf of T-24 (Ustad), a tiger
who has been sentenced to a terrible fate without being proven
guilty:

#SaveUstad
#SaveT24

a.) The cage in which T-24 (Ustad) is lodged at Sajjangarh was

previously occupied by a tiger named Monu, who died in April,
2015. Monu was bitten by rats in this very cage, and died of a
kidney infection following leptospirosis.
Monu was brought in from Bengaluru just a month ago.
b.) The size of the entire facility at Sajjangarh is tiny compared
his territory at Ranthambore Tiger Reserve.
b.) Wild tigers that are caged tend to suffer grievous injuries by
banging their heads against the bars. Sajjangarh does not even
have a qualified wildlife veterinarian.
c.) The safety of his companion, T-39 (Noor), and their two little
cubs is also highly compromised by his removal - T-24's loss will
cause the death of his cubs by attacks from other male tigers,
and Ranthambore will lose not one, but four tigers together.
We seek for your kind intervention, which can surely see justice
done for T-24 (Ustad). We would like to see T-24 sent back to his
home at Ranthambore Tiger Reserve and to his family.
Thanking you.
Sincerely yours,
Save Ustad