NILGIRIS: As per Chief Wildlife Warden Rakesh Kumar Dogra's order to capture two tigers, one of the tigers was captured and released inside the core areas of of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) without sedation last week. Another tiger, which has not been caught, is not creating any problem in Devarsholai. Residents, however, are still living in fear.
A few days after the capture and relocation of the three-year-old male tiger, a cow was found killed at Sarkarmoolai in Devarsholai on December 2. Consequently, residents claimed that another tiger had killed the cow and demanded its capture. The officials said that so far only the captured and relocated tiger had killed 13 cows in Devarsholai Panchayat in the last nine months. Another tiger, its sibling, was roaming with the captured tiger, and there was no evidence of it being involved in killing the cows.
As per Dogra's order, a team headed by Conservator of Forests and Field Director of MTR R Kiruba Shankar, including Dr. Sukumaran, a member of Prakruthi Save Nature Trust and N Mohanraj of WWF India, was formed to capture and relocate the animals. A bigger cage was placed by sourcing it from Wayanad, Kerala, at Devarsholai by the end of August. The three-year-old male tiger was, however, trapped after nearly three months on November 29.
Soon after the frequent killing of cows, they were forced to relocate the tiger far away from human habitation. However, the sibling tiger, which is also a three-year-old male, has not been seen near the habitations in the last two months, Gudalur forest department officials said.
"Though the residents claimed that a tiger had killed at Sarkarmoolai, after a complete field visit and pug marks, we have found only a leopard, which could have killed the cow. There was no problem arising due to the movement of a tiger," sources added.
The chief wildlife warden has directed the team to consider the health status before relocation of the animals, and the entire operation shall be photographed and video recorded, and a detailed report should be submitted after completion of the entire operation.