People of Koodallur and Kallurkunnu villages of Wayanad district in Kerala heaved a sigh of relief on December 18 (Monday) afternoon after an elusive tiger that was giving them sleepless nights for over a week was captured by the Forest department personnel.
It took 10 days of effort for the Forest department to cage the tiger that is suspected to have killed a farmer at Koodallur on December 8, 2023. The animal also reportedly killed a cow and many fowls at a poultry farm.
Local residents had expressed their resentment and staged roadblocks in protest against the alleged lethargy of forest authorities in capturing the tiger.
80-member special team
The Forest department had constituted an 80-member special team and intensified combing operations to capture the tiger. Two ‘kumki’ (trained) elephants were also pressed into service for the mission.
The team set up five cages and installed 28 surveillance cameras in the area to monitor the movement of the big cat. The tiger entered the first cage that was set up on a coffee plantation at Koodallur around 1.30 p.m. on Monday.
The male tiger, nearly 13 year old, was identified as WWL-45 of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary as per the database of the Forest department.
Chief Wildlife Warden’s order
The Chief Wildlife Warden had issued an order on December 10 to shoot the tiger dead if it was not possible to tranquilise and capture the animal following the protests of residents in the area. The Wayanad Sub-Collector had imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in the Koodallur area for the smooth conduct of the operation.
Tension prevails
However, tension prevailed in the Koodallur area on Monday after local residents attempted to prevent the move of forest officials to shift the animal to an animal hospice and palliative care unit for big cats at Sulthan Bathery. The residents want the animal to be shot dead as the forest officials would try to release it into the forests again.
A huge posse of police personnel headed by Sulthan Bathery DySP K.K. Abdulsherief is camping at the site.
