The hunt for a suspected man-eater tiger has intensified in Tamil Nadu where the forest department has embarked on an operation to trap beast, coded T23. On Thursday, the operations reached the 13th day in the Masanagudi and Gudalur areas in the Nilgiris district.
The operations, to trap the tiger started after it killed four people, two in the gap of 14 days, in Gudalaur, Masinagudi and Singara area and more than 20 head of cattle, involves officials from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.
To assist the teams, two tamed elephants and sniffer dogs were also requisitioned, with modern drones to trace the location and movement.
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With the Madras High Court directing to catch the tiger and not to kill it, the four special teams are working to tranquilise the animal, with the help of veterinarians and medical teams.
As there was no trace of the tiger for the last four days, the strategy now was to camp on tall trees, based on the earlier movement recorded in the cameras, with medical team sitting so that they can tranquilise immediately.
Similarly, to attract the tiger, cows were tied so that veterinarians can use the dart to tranquilise it, Forest department sources said.
The department appealed to the people not to venture out particularly in the operational area, which would prevent the tiger from coming out from its hideout.
(With inputs from PTI)
