The elusive man-eating tiger has finally been captured and trapped in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. The tiger known as T-23 was captured after a 20-day long struggle in the forest of Nilgiris by the forest and wildlife department officials. A hunt for the man-eating tiger had been issued a few days earlier, and the tiger is believed to have killed at least four people till now and also nearly 20 cattle and goats in the surrounding villages and farms.
The tiger has reportedly been captured alive after it was tranquilized two times by the forest rangers, which comes in as a big relief to the native people.
Upon being informed about its location on Thursday, the officials said they and a medical team went to the Masinagudi-Theppakkadu Road and successfully hit the tranquilizer dart on the tiger at 10 PM. Yet, it gave them the slip. Then, a group of 50 officials went to the spot, saw the animal in a bush at Kootupara, and used another tranquilizer dart that reached home.
After ensuring the tiger was unconscious, the officials said they caged it and are now awaiting instructions for further action. Nearly 100 people, including a few from Kerala and Karnataka, along with two tamed elephants and three sniffer dogs, were involved in the operation to trap the man-eater. Though there were reports of forest officials receiving orders to shoot the tiger, code-named T23, wildlife activists approached the Madras High Court which directed the officials to trap the animal without killing it.
The court, passing interim orders on a petition last week praying for a direction to ensure that the tiger is captured alive and no steps were taken to put it to sleep or otherwise kill it, asked the officials to see to it that few people enter the forest to capture the big cat.
(with inputs from agencies)
