An injured sloth bear, which had entered an abandoned housing project on Moyar Road in Masinagudi, was tranquillised by Forest Department officials and treated on Friday.
The bear, an adult male, had entered the abandoned houses built by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board for its staff near the Maravakandy Dam along Moyar Road. The locals spotted the animal and informed Forest Department officials, who rushed to the spot.
They noticed that the animal was injured in the hind legs, possibly in a fight with another animal.
A team of Forest Department veterinarians, who were in the area as part of the operation to tranquillise tiger MDT 23, were called in to dart the animal. The veterinarians quickly tranquillised the bear and treated it. Then, they released the animal into the wild in an interior part of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR).
Tracking the tiger
Meanwhile, MTR Field Director D. Venkatesh said the operation to capture MDT 23 was going on. He said camera traps placed in the search area had not captured any image of MDT 23, but two other tigers occupying the same territory were photographed.
“As MDT 23 is known to move between the MTR and Gudalur, camera traps were also placed along the pathways that the tiger usually takes. However, no images of MDT 23 have been captured in these camera traps either,” he said.
P. Arunkumar, Deputy Director of MTR (Buffer Zone), said forest personnel, divided into groups of eight persons each, were on the search for the tiger.
However, no pug-marks consistent with those of MDT 23 were noticed, and 25 more cameras had been placed around MDT 23’s core territory.
