Tamil Nadu: Four more camera traps to track escaped tiger

UDHAGAMANDALAM: To monitor the health of the tiger that was escaped from a metal snare in Uyilhatty village near Kotagiri two days ago, the forest department is planning to install four more camera traps in that area. A thermal drone camera is also being used to track the animal.
Last Saturday, the tiger was found trapped in a metal snare on a patta land near Kotagiri. But before the forest officials could reach the spot to release the carnivore, it managed to free itself from the snare. "We are not sure whether the tiger was injured while getting rid of the snare. We could find its hair on the snare but not any stain of blood," said Saravana Kumar, assistant conservator of forests. Two cameras had already been installed to monitor the big cat.
A team of forest staff tried to track the tiger on Sunday but in vain. Hence, two camera traps were installed in that area. "A thermal drone was also commissioned to track the movement of the tiger on Monday. But none of the efforts yielded any result," said Saravana Kumar. "Hence, four more camera traps will be installed in different places in that area. If the tiger is not injured, it will survive. We are taking all the initiatives to save the tiger in case it is found wounded," he said.
Vedanayagam, a private solutions provider, was approached by the forest department to use thermal drone to track the animal. "We have been combing the area with the help of the thermal drone for the past two days. But there is no sign of movement of the tiger," Vedanayagam said.
Explaining the technology he said, "The thermal drone has the technology to sense the body temperature of the animal which could be converted into an image. By processing the image received we could identify the location."
According to the forest official, the operation of tracking the animal will continue for a few more days. An enquiry is being done in connection of setting up a snare on a farm land.