Suspected man-eater tiger trapped in Gudalur after 38-day hunt

Gudalur: The suspected man-eating tiger that has been terrorising O’Valley Town Panchayat and the neighbouring farming hamlets in Gudalur has been trapped in a cage trap laid by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department, at around 6 am on Friday.

The animal was trapped in the cage laid at the Silver Cloud plantation area, acccording to P Devaraj, Divisional Forest Officer, Gudalur. The animal has been shifted to the Arinjar Anna Zoological Park, Vandalur, Chennai, after a medical examination held at the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.

The animal had lost one of its canine teeths that made hunting in the wild a tough affair for the animal, it was pointed out.

The trapping of the animal comes after a 38-day-long operation to capture the tiger suspected of killing two farmers in the Lauriston area of O’Valley in separate incidents.

The Forest Department had deployed a large number of cage traps and camera traps in the affected areas after the two fatal attacks. The animal is suspected to have killed and partially devoured both victims, triggering widespread fear among residents and disrupting agricultural activities in the region.

The latest victim, 54-year-old farmer Ravikumar of Lauriston, was attacked on August 21 while he was working in his coffee plantation, barely a few metres from his house. The tiger is suspected to have dragged away and partially devoured the victim.

In the earlier incident on August 8, Balakrishnan, a resident of Lauriston, was killed in a suspected tiger attack. His partially eaten remains were recovered the following morning after he failed to return home from the plantation. Forest officials and wildlife experts had concluded that the injuries were consistent with a tiger attack.

The two attacks in quick succession had triggered widespread protests in Gudalur, with residents demanding the immediate capture of the suspected man-eater. The Forest Department subsequently intensified its search operation, deploying more than 200 personnel, including specialised teams, camera traps, drones and cage traps across the affected landscape.

However, the Forest Department has confirmed that the tiger trapped today is the same animal responsible for the deaths of Ravikumar and Balakrishnan. Officials are expected to examine the animal and compare available evidence from the two attack sites before confirming its identity. The unique characteristics of the animal, matching its stripes with the NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority) M-Stripes record, thus establishing its identity, are crucial.