NILGIRIS: Officials of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) have decided to capture the tiger (MTRT37) that killed a tribal woman by placing two cages at Mavanallah near Masinagudi. The decision was taken during a meeting held by the Chief Wildlife Warden Rakesh Kumar Dogra on Thursday.
“One of the cages will be placed near the stream where she was killed. The other will be placed wherever the animal frequents regularly, after analysing the camera traps. If needed, one more cage will be placed,” MTR Field Director R Kiruba Shankar said.
“Soon after the death of tribal woman B Nagiyammal, we placed camera traps to identify the animal. In the last four days we have increased the number of cameras to 34. We suspect that the animal could be 15 years old and a male. Due to its age and difficulty in chasing and hunting, it has targeted a human, thinking of her as a goat,” said the official.
A team is monitoring the movement of the animal using a thermal drone, while four teams with 25 members are in the field round-the-clock to create awareness among locals and prevent human-tiger conflict. “We have been taking 15 children from their settlement to Mavanallah High School in the morning and evening in our forest vehicle. They used to walk one-and-a-half km to reach school. We are also advising people to avoid walking or grazing cattle near the forest,” the official added.
“The animal is a resident tiger of MTR and it used to roam in a 3-5km radius in Mavanallah. The roaming area has shrunk due to his age. Except for a tribal woman, no other incidents have occurred so far, ,” the official added.