Alleged Man-Eater Still Elusive As Madras HC Tells Forest Department Not To Kill The Tiger

The Madras High Court has asked the state Forest Department not to kill MDT-23 an alleged man-eater tiger blamed for the death of four humans and at least 20 cattle in Gudalur.

The High Court on Tuesday said that the tiger officially named Mudumalai Division Tiger 23 (MDT-23) should not be killed immediately as it may not be a man-eater.

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"Do not go for a kill immediately, it may not be a man-eater tiger," the Madras HC told the Tamil Nadu Forest Department which is making efforts to capture Mudumalai's tiger MDT23.

Tamil Nadu forest officials have issued hunting order for a tiger named T-23 in Gudalur as it has reportedly killed 4 persons so far and also resorting to continuous preying on livestock.

Efforts to capture the tiger was unsuccessful. pic.twitter.com/YU3yT8Gf5S

¡ª Shilpa (@Shilpa1308) October 1, 2021

The court further said that there are only a few tigers left in our country.

PIL against hunt down order

The court's direction came in a PIL seeking direction to the Forest department to ensure that the tiger, which is perceived to be dangerous to humans, is captured alive and no steps were taken to put it to sleep or otherwise kill it.

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"All that can be said at the moment is that the other animals in the area should not be disturbed to the extent avoidable for the purpose of tracking down this animal, though some discreet measures may be used for such purpose with the object of ultimately treating the animal and respecting its right to remain wild and free to roam in the forest," the bench said.

Responding to the plea, the government said it has no plans to kill the elusive 'maneater' tiger, on the prowl in hilly Udhagamandalam in The Nilgiris district in the state.

Last week, Tamil Nadu Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden Dr Shekhar Kumar Niraj had issued orders to ¡°hunt down¡± the tiger.

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.

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The Forest Department had however made it clear that they did not plan to shoot at sight the 13-year-old tiger, but the aim was to capture it alive, failing which they may have to kill the big cat.

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Over the past few days, several teams of the Forest Department including two Kumkis and several hunting dogs have been patrolling the forest and adjoining areas where the tiger was spotted last.

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But they have not been able to locate the elusive big cat. There were reports that the tiger was spotted briefly, and before the tranquilizer shot could be fired, it vanished into the jungle.