The New Indian Express ·
Mission on to capture one more tiger in Gudalur
COIMBATORE: Officials of the Gudalur Forest Division are making efforts to capture another tiger reported in the Vimalagiri area of Nambalakottai in the Gudalur Forest Range.
As part of the operation, two cages have been installed and 25 camera traps deployed to monitor the animal's movements and facilitate its capture. Forest officials clarified that the tiger being tracked in Vimalagiri is different from the man-eater that killed two people at Lauriston in the O-Valley forest range.
In both cases, Chief Wildlife Warden Rakesh Kumar Dogra has issued orders to capture the animals.
In Vimalagiri, the tiger has frequently been venturing into residential areas, even during the daytime. It has also killed a few cattle after entering areas such as Makkamoola, Ambalakadu and Vimalagiri. The tiger was reportedly seen roaming close to a primary school, while local residents have frequently shared photographs of the animal after it entered residential areas about a week ago.
"We have also deployed additional staff to prevent any further escalation of negative human-tiger interactions in Vimalagiri. We have instructed farmers not to leave their cattle unattended for grazing and to keep the animals inside sheds to protect them from tiger attacks," a Forest Department official said.
The official said the department has decided to immediately initiate the capture operation in Vimalagiri by placing cages on Thursday as the area has limited forest cover, unlike O-Valley and the animal may disturb the people frequently.
"We have a small area of coffee and tea estates, while the remaining areas are residential and agricultural land. If the time and location are suitable for the veterinarians, the Vimalagiri tiger, which is also a male, will be tranquilised," said Gudalur Forest Division DFO P Devaraj.
The official also said there was a high possibility of the tiger moving into the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR), which is less than 5 km away by aerial distance.
Devaraj also said that, in the case of the suspected man-eater in O-Valley, forest range staff had visited the area following information from local residents about a tiger. However, officials were unable to confirm whether it was the man-eater.
"We could not see the animal completely as it went inside the rocks," Devaraj said.