HUBBALLI: A delay in capturing the male tiger which has killed three humans and injured one in the last three weeks in Virajpet taluk in Kodagu has kept everyone worried.
Amidst the critical time of forest fire, large numbers of forest staff from Nagarhole and other divisions are on duty to track the problematic tiger.
The issue ensued when the tiger killed two humans in separate locations in a span of 24 hours in Virajpet taluk. The next human kill was attempted by the tiger by March 5 in the same taluk. There was a window period between the two attacks the tiger should have been caught, lamented a section of tiger experts.
The ongoing tiger capture operation has once again brought back the old demand of setting up of a dedicated team, involving officials from the state forest department for such operations. "There are several good marksmen in forest department serving at various levels. There are RFOs and guards who can face any danger in wildlife such as elephant, tiger or sloth bear and are capable of getting the work done without involving too many men and machines, or even elephants," noted a wildlife expert.
"What happens when you bring an elephant to an area which is full of coffee estates. It not only attracts the attention of humans but also stray dogs which keep going behind the elephant barking. When you sitting on top of an elephant and trying to look at what is beneath the coffee plants. Instead, we should have had teams on the ground which could have done the job silently. Form a dedicated team and equip them with modern weapons requires for the job," the expert demanded.
"Conflict with big cats is not new for people of Kodagu, especially during the early summer months. But the delay in catching or solving the tiger conflict enrages the locals. There are already talks of poisoning attempts among villagers in Kodagu and forest officials have warned against the same. But if more attacks are reported it will be difficult for the department to handle the situation. The department must take preventive measures after the initial kills of livestock. Set up camera traps, check the health of the animal and take a decision on whether to rehabilitate or remove it from the area and put it into a rehab centre," suggested another wildlife expert.
The forest officials who have been camping in the area since February 24 claimed that the local cooperation was poor making the task of catching the tiger difficult.
"On February 25 we were about the dart a tiger but a drunken man came from the same way singing. Despite knowing there was tiger capture operations was on how can someone take it so lightly? Similarly, the requests of forest officials not to burst crackers during night hours were not heeded by the villages. This disturbed the tiger and capturing was not possible for several days," explained a forest official.