Tiger cub likely to attend boot camp from Friday

Coimbatore: If everything goes as per plan, the tiger cub rescued from the Manambolly forest range last year, would be on Friday shifted to an enclosure at Mathirimattam, where he will learn hunting and acquire skills to survive in the wild.
Forest department personnel had found the cub, wounded by a porcupine quill, in Thaimudi estate on September 28. The eight-month-old tiger was later shifted to a cage near the forest department’s rest house at Manambolly.
As per the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) guidelines, the cub should be reared in an in-situ enclosure for a minimum of two years and should have a successful kill record of 50 animals before released into the wild. Preparation to set up the enclosure had been going on for six months.
A 15-foot-high chain-link fence has been installed around the 23-cent enclosure, deputy filed director of Anamalai Tiger Reserve M G Ganesan said. “We have installed a three-foot-height wire mesh to prevent reptiles from entering the enclosure. It contains an artificial cave and trough. Forest staff will keep an eye on the cub using four CCTV cameras and a speed dome camera round-the-clock,” he told TOI.
An observation platform has also been installed on a nearby tree, where anti-poaching watchers will be deployed to monitor wild animals in the locality. “We will slowly introduce animals including wild boars and deer into the enclosure and observe the cub’s hunting methods,” said Ganesan.
This is the first time a tiger cub is being rewilded in Tamil Nadu, the official said. “We have sent a letter to the chief wildlife warden, seeking permission to release the cub into the enclosure on Friday.”