NILGIRIS: Following three months of search, a male tiger that killed 13 cows was trapped in a cage at Devarsholai in the Gudalur forest division on Saturday morning.
The tiger is three years old and fell into the cage in which a cow was placed to lure the animal in the wee hours.
Chief Wildlife Warden Rakesh Kumar Dogra issued an order to capture the animal in the first week of August after the animal killed 13 cows in the surroundings of Devarsholai in Gudalur forest range over a period of six months.
Based on the order, a huge cage (30 feet in length and 10 feet in height), which has back and front gates, was placed at the end of August. The cage was sourced from Wayanad in Kerala.
"We are taking efforts to shift the animal to the small cage in the presence of a team as per the NTCA guideline that consists of members from NGOs and a ward councillor for easy transportation," said the Gudalur DFO N Venkatesh Prabhu.
"The stripe pattern of the animal is the same, as we have been closely monitoring the animal using camera traps that were fixed to track the animal. We have not sedated the animal, and the animal is vigorous now. We are trying to bring the animal to calm down," the official said.
The animal will be released inside the reserve forest, far away from the residential location.
Meanwhile, commotion occurred at the spot as the forest department allegedly did not allow the media persons to take pictures and videos of the process, where revenue and police personnel allowed.