An order to hunt the tiger, T23, was issued by the Tamil Nadu Chief Wildlife Warden on Friday after the animal killed one more person at Masinagudi in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR).
The animal, believed to be an old male in failing health and with injuries, is thought to have been responsible for the death of four persons in villages around the MTR and Gudalur.
Efforts to tranquillise and capture it were initiated more than a week ago by the Forest Department after a herder was killed at Devan Estate in Gudalur.
On Friday, the animal is believed to have crossed back into the MTR from Gudalur and killed M. Basavan, 82. After his body was found, locals staged a protest and demanded that the tiger be killed.
They blocked the road between Masinagudi and Udhagamandalam and refused to allow the police to take Basavan’s body to hospital for post-mortem. After his body was found, locals staged a protest and demanded that the tiger be killed. They blocked the road between Masinagudi and Udhagamandalam and refused to allow the police to take Basavan’s body to hospital for post-mortem.
MTR Field Director D. Venkatesh, as well as officials of the district administration, arrived at the site of the protest and attempted to convince them to disperse peacefully. Police presence was also stepped up. to prevent public anger against the forest department from taking a violent turn.
Mr. Venkatesh told the protesters that an order had been passed to hunt the tiger and urged them to return home so that the Forest Department could quickly act on the order to capture or eliminate the animal before anyone else is killed or injured.
The order was issued as a six-day operation to capture the animal had been unfruitful. While there have been reports that the order was to terminate or eliminate the tiger, Chief Wildlife Warden Shekhar Kumar Niraj clarified that shooting would be the last resort after all efforts to capture the tiger failed.
All four persons that the tiger is believed to have killed were herders grazing livestock on the forest fringes. Forest Department teams from Kerala as well as Special Task Force personnel are being drafted for the operation.
