COIMABTORE: Officials of Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) are on high alert to prevent cattle from getting killed by a tiger near Sethumadai adjacent to the Pollachi forest range. The alert was necessitated after the big cat returned to the farm land where it killed six cattle on Tuesday, once again.
The department has increased the number of camera traps to 10 after the tiger, which killed five goats and a calf on Tuesday, returned once again to the same farmland owned by one Shankar near Ayirangal forest beat in Sethumadai, on Wednesday at around 2.30am.
"The animal returned again to eat one of the five goats it had earlier killed. We placed four cameras on Tuesday and now we have placed six more cameras. This will help us watch the animal closely. We will get a clear picture in the coming days and get to know whether the animal is unable to hunt on its own, which might be the reason why it is targetting cattle," ATR Deputy Director AS Marimuthu told TNIE
"It seems the animal is aged. We are also cross checking its stripe pattern and are comparing it with the tiger pictures taken during the census. We will also monitor the animal on Thursday since we have placed the carcass of four goats and the calf that it killed near the river bed since there is a high chance that the animal might return on Thursday," said Marimuthu.
"So far, the animal has not harmed any human. However, we have instructed people to avoid venturing out in the night," said he.
"Our anti-depredation squad has been on duty round the clock to prevent man-animal conflict and are giving instructions to people about the do's and don'ts. On Wednesday, people were informed about the tiger movement through thandora," said Marimuthu.
Leopard found dead
A six-year-old male leopard was found dead at Masinagudi forest range in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in The Nilgiris district on Wednesday afternoon. According to sources, the animal could have died due to infighting with another male leopard.
MTR (Masinagudi) Deputy Director LCS Srikanth, said, "The animal could have died one week ago. We got the alert from tribals who were tapping honey nearby. The animal's carcass was found on a slope and most of its body was already decomposed. Part of its flesh was found to have been eaten by some animal. The big cat was cremated as per the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) guidelines after postmortem exam."