Forest dept captures elusive tiger in Wayanad

Wayanad: The Forest Department on Monday captured one of the elusive tigers that have been creating a headache for the farmers living in the jungle hamlets of Wayanad.

The tiger was caught in the trap laid by the Forest Department at Kolarattkunnu, Moolamkavu near Sulthan Bathery in the wee hours of Monday.

The forest department staff under the jurisdiction of the Sulthan Bathery forest range of Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary was on round-the-clock vigil for the last three days since the cage was set up. Lured by a goat tied up as prey animal in the cage, the animal was trapped by 3 am, according to forest officials. The field staff on guard soon alerted the higher officials and shifted the animal to the forest headquarters premises near Sulthan Bathery.

The further course of action would be decided after veterinary experts examine the animal. The animal would be released into the wild if healthy. It would be retained in the animal palliative care unit at Sulthan Bathery if injured.

Meanwhile, the other tiger, for which another cage was laid at Panavalli near Tirunelli in the North Wayanad Forest division, continues to be elusive.

Forest officials in Wayanad were in a tight spot due to the human-animal conflict being played out in the district's border villages. In the past few days, hamlets of Panavally that falls under the North Wayanad Forest Division near Mananthavadi, and Kolorottukunnu and Moolankavu under the Suthan Bathery range of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, have become trouble zones for the forest department, with increasing incidents of cattle-lifting and tiger raids.

Residents have been protesting against the department's failure to trap the beasts and keep them in confinement. 

A forest team headed by Begur Range Officer K Ragesh and Periya Range Officer Remya Raghavan set up tiger traps at Panavalli near Tirunelli. 

North Wayanad DFO Martin Lowell told Onmanorama that aged tigers, unfit to find prey in the forest are raiding the villages in search of easy kills like calves, cows and other grazing cattle, he said.