CHENNAI: There isn't enough field evidence available to describe Gudalur's tiger as a 'man-eater'. Only the two deaths in Singara are confirmed killings of MDT-23 and both were cattle grazers and killed inside the reserve forest. That it killed two others in Devan estate and Bospara range in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve is only conjecture, say senior forest officials to TNIE.
As per the “Standard operating procedure to deal with emergencies arising due to straying of tigers in human-dominated landscapes” released by Union environment ministry and National Tiger Conservation Authority in January 2013,
“At times, the human beings killed due to chance encounters may also be eaten by the animal. However, such happenings are not sufficient for classifying a tiger / leopard as a man eater, which can best be established only after confirming the habituation of the animal for deliberate stalking of humans, while avoiding its natural prey.”
This document gives guidelines as to what is to be done to declare an animal as “man-eater”. It says under no circumstances should an animal resorting to cattle depredation be declared as a “man eater”, despite it venturing close to human settlements. It also says “elimination of a tiger/leopard as a man eater should be the last option, after exhausting the option of capturing it live as detailed in the SOP”.