Killer tiger still on the prowl as forest department continues hunt at Tamil Nadu's Masinagudi
NILGIRIS/ CHENNAI: Villagers in Masinagudi near the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) are living on the edge as the tiger, MDT 23, against which a hunting order was issued on Friday for allegedly killing four people, remains elusive. Meanwhile, two people have moved the Madras High Court challenging the order.
One of the five forest teams conducting the search and capture operation spotted the tiger once at around 12.30 pm in Singara on Saturday before it disappeared into the bushes. Thereafter, the tiger's whereabouts were not known. The operation was suspended after sunset as per the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) guidelines.
However, officials are confident in achieving a favourable result in a day or two. Drones are being extensively used and live baits were placed in places where tiger movement was noticed. "The tiger needs to eat. The last meal it had was about 40 hours ago when it fed on a man it killed in Singara. It has to come out of its hideout in search of an easy prey. We are hopeful of capturing it," a senior official told The New Indian Express.
Chief Wildlife Warden Shekhar Kumar Niraj, who is monitoring the operation personally from Gudalur, told The New Indian Express more deployments are being called-in to assist the operation as exhaustion would creep-in.
"A 10-member forest elite force from Megamalai and Coimbatore will be part of frontline personnel from Sunday," he said. Sources said that a few private sharpshooters were lobbying hard to be part of the operation, but the forest department has categorically said no.
Meanwhile, environment secretary Supriya Sahu told The New Indian Express the forest department was extremely sensitive to the issue at hand and doing everything in its powers to cause no harm to the tiger as well as ensure safety of the locals. "The operation is being carried out meticulously based on sound wildlife science and with expert advice," she said.
The department has asked people residing nearby not to venture out at nights.
Meanwhile, Masinagudi residents resorted to protests again, for the second consecutive day. "Since there is no guarantee for our lives, the forest department should kill the animal soon, without suffering any further loss of human lives," said one of the protesters.
The last rites of Basavan, the 82-year-old tribal killed by the tiger, was performed by locals, not very far from where the forest team was carrying out its operation.
Sources said forest department had received information of another tiger movement in Singara. The tiger, which is said to be healthy, has allegedly attacked a cattle the previous day and it succumbed to injuries on Saturday.
D Venkatesh, field director of MTR, said the wild cat has not ventured into the forest despite pressure and is roaming on the forest boundary. "We have noticed that the natural behaviour of the animal has changed and as per the NTCA guidelines we are trying to capture it," he said.
Loss of livelihood feared
R Mani, a villager from Kurumbarpadi in Masinagudi, said, "We used to go inside the forest to collect honey and other forest produce, apart from grazing goats. But, for the past few days, we fear going there because of the tiger. Due to this, our livelihood has been severely affected."
A woman from the village claimed, "The same tiger (MDT 23) killed a woman from our village last year. We had demanded the forest department then itself to capture it, and were assured that it would be done in two to three days. But they did not capture it, and we lost another life."
As part of the operation, the busy stretch between Masinagudi and Theppakkadu was suddenly closed on Saturday morning, leaving hundreds of people, including tourists, tribals, and government staff, stranded.
Karthik, a tourist from Palladam, who came along with a 15-member group, told The New Indian Express they had booked a private resort at Masinagudi for the day and paid an advance of Rs 5,000. The group was denied entry permission and had to return. Likewise, Shaji, a native of Kerala, who came to visit his sister in Masinagudi had to wait at least 10 hours to gain entry.
Businesses in and around the area were also hit as dozens of forest department staff along with the help of district police placed a rope at the Theppakkadu checkpost to prevent entry of vehicles. Despite several locals and a government staff member, who works in MTR, pleading to allow them to go, the permission was denied.
A policeman who went to Gudalur from Masinagudi in the morning and was stranded at the check post, told The New Indian Express, "I got a bus at 7.45 am from my house in Masinagudi and went to Gudalur to buy groceries. However, all of a sudden, the entry was closed when I reached the check post at 10 am. This is an unplanned operation. The forest department should have informed about the road closure a day in advance."
Shankar, a tribal from Masinagudi said he had gone to Karnataka to carry out farm work a few days ago and was returning on Saturday. However, the police and forest department staff denied him permission to visit his house.
One of the resort owners in Masinagudi said, "We usually witness some business during the weekend. For the last couple of weeks, we hoped that the business will shoot up after the State government relaxed COVID restrictions. However this operation has created panic among tourists."