Kannur: A male tiger, tranquilized and caught from Kannur's Kottiyoor, died around midnight on Tuesday. The wild cat had suffered injuries after being ensnared near a human habitat close to the reserve forest range at Panniyammala.
Kerala Forest Minister A K Saseendran has asked the Chief Wildlife Warden to conduct an inquiry and submit a report immediately.
Forest department sources confirmed that the tiger breathed its last in Kozhikode. Necropsy will be conducted at Wayanad, they said.
As per reports, forest officials in Kannur had planned to shift the tiger to Thrissur zoo by 7 pm on Wednesday and had alerted authorities regarding this. Hence, superintendent and staff at the zoo had made elaborate arrangements including medical care for the injured animal.
A senior forest official said that local rubber-tapping workers saw the trapped tiger on Tuesday morning and informed the forest officials.
Officials noticed that one of the front paws of the big cat was caught in the fence. Thereafter, the tiger was given a tranquilizer shot at around noon and then moved into a cage, the official said. Earlier, the forest officials planned to relocate the tiger to Kannavam forest. As people and public representatives opposed this move, the officials decided to shift the animal to Thrissur Zoo.
Following this, a team of forest officials set off to Thrissur along with the caged tiger around 8.45 pm on Tuesday. The news on the tiger's death came into light after Thrissur zoo officials contacted the team.
