Panic gripped residents of Kurukkanmoola, near Mananthavady, under the North Wayanad Forest Division after eight domestic animals were killed by what is believed to be a tiger on the prowl, in 12 days.
The villagers under the aegis of an all-party action council took out a protest march and staged a dharna in front of the North Wayanad Divisional Forest Office at Mananthavady on Thursday along with the carcass of the calf, which was reportedly killed by the tiger.
The killing of cattle owned by Johny of Ayyamatathil, a farmer at Kurukkanmoola, a village on the fringes of the Thrissilery section of the forest under the Begur forest range in North Wayanad Forest Division, on the day provoked the mob.
Later, they detained North Wayanad Forest Divisional Officer Ramesh Bishnoi at his office.
Villagers said the animal had attacked eight domestic animals at Kurukkanmoola and Mele Anpathinalu. The animal had attacked another calf on Tuesday. The villagers blocked traffic on the Mananthavady-Mysore inter-State highway on Wednesday.
Later, Wayanad Sub Collector R. Lakshmi and Mr. Bishnoy met local leaders and assured them that all steps would be taken to capture the tiger. Round-the-clock patrol will be held in the area, and a trap will be placed. More surveillance cameras will be installed to track the predator.
D.K. Vinod Kumar, Chief Conservator of Forests, Northern Circle, told The Hindu that officials had installed six surveillance cameras to monitor the movement of the big cat in the area, but they were yet to get an image of it.
Wayanad harbours nearly 90 tigers and the officials are yet to identify which animal was repeatedly lifting domestic animals owing to dearth of images, he added.
