NILGIRIS: An aged male tiger that killed a 65-year-old tribal woman near Masinagudi was finally captured on Thursday morning, bringing much-needed relief to anxious villagers of Mavanallah who had been living under constant fear for nearly two weeks. The tiger (MTRT37) is being shifted to Vandalur zoo in Chennai considering its age.
“We will reach Vandalur on Friday morning. The tiger is being transported in the same cage in which it was captured. We have stocked mutton, beef and water for the journey,” a forest department official said.
The tiger is suspected to have killed B Nagiyammal, a resident of a nearby tribal settlement, while she was grazing goats on a patta land along the forest boundary on November 24. Around 6.30 am, forest staff spotted the tiger, believed to be over 15 years old, inside one of the four cages placed in Mavanallah. A carcass of a cow was kept near the cage to lure the big cat.
According to MG Ganesan, deputy director of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR), the animal had targeted a human as its health seems weak. The committee formed by Chief Wildlife Warden Rakesh Kumar Dogra has decided to take the big cat to the Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur for its rehabilitation. There will be no more killings of cattle due to tiger attacks. Also, the animal will also have a longer life, Ganesan said.
The tiger may find the going tough if it is relocated inside the reserve forest as it is more than 15 years old. Moreover, the tiger has an injury to its face, which may have occurred after a possible fight with another tiger six months ago. However, tension briefly flared after the capture, with residents blocking a road and alleging that the animal caught was not the one responsible for the woman’s death. They demanded the forest department to show them the tiger. Officials held talks with the protesters and assured them that stripe-pattern analysis matched camera-trap images taken a day after the attack. Four cages and 29 camera traps were deployed to track the tiger’s movements.