"Hunt Down" Order Issued For A Tiger, Blamed For Killing 4 Humans, 20 Cattle In Tamil Nadu
An alleged man-eater tiger that is believed to have killed 4 humans and some 20 cattle in Gudalur forest range of Tamil Nadu's Nilgiris district will be hunt down.
The Tamil Nadu Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden Dr Shekhar Kumar Niraj issued orders to ¡°hunt down¡± the tiger, officially named MDT 23.
The order to hunt the tiger was issued under Section 11 (1) (a) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The section gives the Chief Warden authority to issue orders to kill or hunt any animal falling under Schedule 1 of the Act (including tigers), if it poses danger to human life.?
"Orders have been issued... to capture the problematic tiger identified as MDT23 under section 11 (1) (a) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1971, as the said tiger has been resorting to continuous preying on livestock since July 2021,¡± the order said.
The order was issued days after the big cat, a native of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) killed a 52-year-old Kurumba tribal from Kurumbarpadi village on September 24.
He is said to be the fourth human victim of the 13-year-old male tiger.
Other than humans, the tiger is also believed to have killed at least 20 cattle from adjoining areas.
¡°The said tiger MDT-23 has become dangerous to human lives in the area. People of that area are also demanding capture or killing of the tiger,¡± read the order.
According to Tamil Nadu Forest officials, the order was not to shoot the tiger at sight but to capture it.
They added that efforts will be made to tranquilise and capture the tiger alive, and only if it fails, the big cat will be shot dead.
MTR which is spread over 688 sqkm, is home to 103 tigers. Like many protected areas across India, MTR too is facing a space crunch for its growing tiger population.
It is believed that tigers are increasingly venturing out of their habitat in search of new territories, and that is bringing them into more conflicts with humans.
