THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Animal lovers are peeved with forest department authorities for not zeroing in on the identity of the tiger spotted in Pathanamthitta. Terming it presumptive to equate the tiger in the drone image with the one that is suspected to have mauled an Idukki native to death on May 7, wildlife enthusiasts feel the animal could have been identified scientifically. On Tuesday, rumours were rife that the tiger was spotted again.
Dr Sarita Subramaniam of the Mumbai-based Earth Brigade Foundation (EBF) said forest officials should drive the big cat back into the forest rather than strive to capture it, which could even lead to its death.
Thirty-six-year-old Bineesh Mathew was reportedly mauled by a tiger at the Plantation Corporation of Kerala's rubber estate. The animal -- which was hiding inside the thickets -- attacked the man inflicting serious injuries to his neck, resulting in his death. Efforts have been on to capture the tiger alive with a team led by Dr Arun Zachariah, chief veterinary officer, Wayanad, camping in Pathanamthitta since the deadly attack.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had asked the state chief wildlife warden to follow the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) while capturing the tiger that has spread panic in Pathanamthitta.
Dr Sarita -- one of the owners of EBF and a dental surgeon -- told The New Indian Express that if the forest department follows the SOP, then the tiger cannot even be captured let alone shot. She is worried about the situation going out of hand, given the manner of the attempt to capture Maharashtra’s tigress T-1/Avni and its eventual killing which led to a national uproar.
“The identity of the animal which attacked the rubber tapping employee at Pathanamthitta hasn't been established so far. There are conflicting reports saying that it was a leopard. Just because a drone captured an image of a tiger, it doesn’t mean it is the same animal that killed the human being,” Sarita said.
Dr Arun said no trace has been found of the six to seven-year-old tiger in 8,800 hectares of forest land. He and his team of veterinarians and forest officials have scanned the entire forest with evidence-based research for 10 days. “We couldn’t see any pug marks. We haven’t seen any evidence of the tiger's death. It might have moved deeper into the forest. We also haven’t seen any leopard in the vicinity, and it’s the tiger which strayed into the human settlement,” he said.
Referring to the latest rumours, Dr Arun said the tiger usually sharpens its claws on the rubber tree in a horizontal manner. “But the new markings have been made vertically. I feel it has been man-made just to create terror in the region,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chief Forest Veterinary Officer Dr E K Easwaran said the camera trap technique is required to trace the tiger's identity through its stripes on the chest and pug marks as all tigers exhibit individual patterns.
“In Pathanamthitta, the camera trap technique couldn’t be used as it is a drone image. There are instances where animals were captured by pointing out falsely that they had strayed into human habitat in Kerala,” Dr Easwaran said.