COIMBATORE: The operation to hunt MDT 23, a problematic tiger that is believed to have killed four humans and dozens of cattle in Gudalur, did not yield results on Sunday, October 3, 2021, as the big cat could not be spotted. Over 60 personnel from the Tamil Nadu forest department and tiger trackers from the Kerala forest department are involved in the operation at Masinagudi in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) for the last three days.
Just when the day ended, officials were notified by villagers about a tiger walking along Singara road visibly weak and tired. Camera traps are being installed in the area and the combing operation would start from here on Monday.
Field director of MTR, D Venkatesh, said, “We searched nearly five km in Masinagudi but could not spot the animal. Drones and sniffer dogs from Karnataka, camera traps also did not record the movement of tiger. We are tracking MDT 23 by its stripes since the pattern differs for every animal. We have circulated print out of MDT 23 to all staff involved in the operation.”
He added, “We understand that the animal is roaming in fear. We cannot call it a man-eater as more humans would have been attacked then. It is targetting only cows even though there are plenty of buffaloes around. This shows the animal is in failing health.”
Meanwhile, two kumkis from Theppakkadu elephant camp were deployed in the operation on Sunday. Kumkis Udayan and Srinivasan would help field staff locate the tiger and facilitate veterinarians to tranquilise it. Sources said more kumkis would be used if needed. The Masinagudi to Theppkkadu road remained closed for the second day.
Poultry owner poisons Labrador, booked
Coimbatore: District police registered a case against a 65-year-old man in Angalakurichi for allegedly poisoning a Labrador dog to death. According to police, M Kandasamy (65) runs a poultry business in Parai Medu. As street dogs attacked hens frequently, Kandasamy set up a trap for the canines with rat poison. However, the dog belonging to one S Saravanakumar (22) chanced upon the poison and died. The incident occurred on September 29. On Saturday, the Aliyar police booked Kandasamy under Section 429 (mischief by killing or maiming cattle) of the IPC. Efforts are on to arrest him.
Herd moves away from dead calf after 35 hrs of mourning
Coimbatore: A cow elephant and two adults that were mourning a dead calf at Mazhavan Cherampadi near Pandalur in Nilgiris moved away from the carcass on Sunday afternoon, after more than 35 hours. Officials from the Forest Department in Gudalur were trying to chase the herd away since Saturday morning by bursting firecrackers, but the elephants stood their ground. According to sources, the herd sprayed water on the dead calf in a desperate bid to revive it. An official from Cherambadi Range said the animals moved away on their own and that they would conduct postmortem examination on Monday to ascertain the age, sex, and cause of death of the calf.