Just when Forest Department personnel on patrol duty believed that it had retreated into the forest, a tiger, which has been allegedly straying into residential settlements in Thalavady in Erode district, returned to the village and mauled to death a cow tied in a shed early on Wednesday.
The carcass of a cow that was suspected to have been killed by the tiger in Thalavady on Wednesday
Coimbatore:
“Scared of being attacked, Madevappa rushed back into the house and locked himself inside. The tiger then retreated into the forest cover. Madevappa found one of his cows dead with bite marks on its neck on the morning,” they said.
On receiving information, the Thalavady Forest Department staff arrived and confirmed the animal to be a tiger by examining its foot prints. The panicked villagers have urged the department to take all efforts to trap the animal.
When contacted, a Forest department official claimed that the tiger migrated from Mudumalai. “The tiger could have moved to the jungle on Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border following a massive fire recently in Mudumalai forest range,” he said.
The animal eluded a trap set by placing a cage with a goat as its live bait in Thalavady forest range a few days ago. Subsequently, the Forest Department has increased its vigil and cautioned people against venturing out in dark.
The death of the cow comes a day after a leopard strayed into a farm in TN Palayam forest range in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) and mauled to death around 12 goats on Monday night.
According to sources, the tiger visited a farm owned by Madevappa (48). Around 3 am, he heard a loud noise from the cattle shed in the farm and rushed out of his house to check it. From a distance, however, he spotted a tiger in the cattle shed.
“Scared of being attacked, Madevappa rushed back into the house and locked himself inside. The tiger then retreated into the forest cover. Madevappa found one of his cows dead with bite marks on its neck on the morning,” they said.
On receiving information, the Thalavady Forest Department staff arrived and confirmed the animal to be a tiger by examining its foot prints. The panicked villagers have urged the department to take all efforts to trap the animal.
When contacted, a Forest department official claimed that the tiger migrated from Mudumalai. “The tiger could have moved to the jungle on Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border following a massive fire recently in Mudumalai forest range,” he said.
The animal eluded a trap set by placing a cage with a goat as its live bait in Thalavady forest range a few days ago. Subsequently, the Forest Department has increased its vigil and cautioned people against venturing out in dark.
The death of the cow comes a day after a leopard strayed into a farm in TN Palayam forest range in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) and mauled to death around 12 goats on Monday night.