MYSURU: The tiger in the state’s Bandipur reserve, which is suspected to have killed two people, recently remained elusive with no sightings or pug marks of the animal recorded on Friday.
The tiger, which is suspected to have killed two farmers and close to a dozen cattle in Chowdahalli village of Gundulpet taluk, was sighted on Thursday and was also recorded on the camera trap raising the hopes of the forest personnel of capturing it.
According to the forest personnel, the tiger went off the radar on Friday and the combing operation personnel had to return to their camps empty-handed for the fourth consecutive day. This, even after, they had zeroed in on the location of the tiger at a private farm on Thursday. They are suspecting that the big cat would have escaped from the area sometime in the night. However, speaking to The New Indian Express, T Balachandra, Bandipur Tiger Reserve Director, expressed confidence of capturing the tiger at the earliest.
With the villagers of Chowdahalli and Hundipura and farmers in the vicinity living in fear, Balachandra said that measures are being taken to allay their fear. “We are working closely with the villagers and our personnel have passed our contact numbers to the villagers and farmhouses in the area to inform us about the tiger,” he said.
Earlier, speaking to reporters, he said that to expedite the capture process, the personnel have changed their strategy of combing and a few more experts well versed with conflict tigers will be brought in soon. Also, improvised tranquilizer guns have been brought in.
He said that camera traps have been realigned based on information gathered and added that a total of 120 personnel, seven elephants, 200 cameras and three drones are actively engaged in surveillance.