NILGIRIS: The operation to capture a tiger that allegedly killed two men and has been identified as a man-eater is among the biggest undertaken by the state forest department in recent times.
Unlike previous operations, the forest department has deployed as many as 11 cages in and around Lauriston in the O-Valley town panchayat near Gudalur and intensified efforts to capture the tiger. In earlier operations, a maximum of four or five cages were generally deployed.
Of the 11 cages, three are from the Gudalur Forest Division, while the others have been sourced from the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR), the Nilgiris Forest Division, neighbouring Wayanad in Kerala and the Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR) in Karnataka.
The move comes amid growing concern over the tiger, which is suspected to have been involved in the deaths of two men in Lauriston — M Balakrishnan (54) on August 9 and K Ravikumar (51) on August 21. Forest officials are hoping to capture the animal at the earliest.
Speaking to the TNIE, Gudalur Forest Division District Forest Officer (DFO) P Devaraj said two experienced veterinarians from MTR and the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve are on the ground, studying the animal's movement and possible routes as part of efforts to tranquilise and capture it.
"Despite the presence of experienced veterinarians, the difficult terrain in O-Valley poses a challenge to the safe capture of the animal in accordance with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) protocol. The inclement weather has also hampered the operation.
Due to the mist, visibility has reduced to less than 20ft. Hence, we have strategically placed cages for the 3-km surroundings with live bait in the hope that the tiger will enter one of the traps," he said.
The number of camera traps has also been increased to 82 to closely monitor the movement of the big cat and assist teams involved in the capture operation.
We have also been monitoring the animal's movements through three thermal drones deployed for aerial surveillance," Devaraj said.
A total of 80 forest personnel, including the DFO, two Assistant Conservators of Forests (ACFs) and six Forest Range Officers, along with staff from the Nilgiris Forest Division and MTR, have been deployed for the operation. Following an order from the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), personnel from the forest department's elite force have also been deployed to augment the existing strength.
"Most of the staff will not be stationed at Lauriston during the night, as we hope the animal will approach the area if it is not disturbed," said another official involved in the operation. The department has not yet assigned an identification code to the tiger, such as Gudalur 20 or G21, and is currently referring to it simply as a male tiger.