Bandipur foresters seek permission to tranquillise tiger terrorising village

Mysuru: An old tiger terrorising the cattle and residents of Katwalu village, not very far from the backwaters of the Kabini Dam, in Mysuru district, and evading capture for the past one month, may be tranquillised by the foresters, who have been thwarted in their repeated attempts to drive it back to the woods. The big cat had, for the past month, turned the area on the fringes of the N Begur forest range, into its fiefdom, preying on the livestock of the Katwalu villagers.
The foresters are awaiting the nod to tranquillise the big cat, which is believed to be more than 10 years old. As recently as two days ago, the tiger killed a calf in Katwalu village. Inputs from the residents of the village, in addition to footage and photographs from the camera traps, have helped foresters stay on the trail of the big cat.
The foresters opined that the big cat must have ventured out of the wild owing to infirmities brought upon by the onset of the old age such as loss of its canines and claws. They said that the tiger may have lost its ability to hunt in the wild, prompting it to look for easy prey in human habitats, said assistant conservator of forests (ACF) for Hediyala sub-division Ravikumar.
“We have been tracking the tiger for the past one month. We have sought permission from our superiors to knock the tiger out and capture it,” he told TOI.
Director of Bandipur Tiger Reserve T Balachandra said that the foresters involved in the operation had placed cages to trap the tiger. “If it does not return to the forest, we will be left with no option but to tranquillise it. I have written a letter to the wildlife committee seeking clearance for the same,” Balachandra told TOI.