Camera traps have been set up, a rapid response team has been employed round-the-clock, and a cage is to be erected to capture the man-eater at Basavankolly near Pulpally in Wayanad district.
As many as 98 tribal families, including Kattunayakka and Paniya tribal communities, are living in the Basavankolly tribal settlement near the Kathavakkunnu forest under the Chethalayath forest range in the South Wayanad forest division where a 24-year-old youth of the tribal hamlet had been killed and partially devoured by a carnivore on Tuesday.
The incident triggered panic among the tribal families as many locals had reportedly seen two tigers in the area. Moreover, a cow of a farmer in the settlement was attacked by a carnivore four days ago, villagers said.
No fresh pugmarks were seen at the site or no images were captured in camera traps set up in the area after the incident, South Wayanad Forest Divisional Officer B. Ranjith Kumar told The Hindu.
Seventeen camera traps have been set up by the rapid response team of the Forest Department in and around the spot, and more may be installed, Mr. Ranjith Kumar said.
Three teams, each one consisting of seven to nine frontline forest staffers, have been constituted for round-the-clock search, and tribal trackers have been asked to assist the search teams, the official added.
“Though we have searched around 5 sq km of the area, we were yet to spot the big cat,” T. Sasikumar, Forest Range Officer, Chethalayath Range, said. “A cage will be set up soon after we get the
image of the elusive big cat in the camera traps,” he said.
The heavy undergrowth in the forest and intermittent showers are adversely affecting the operations.
