Wayanad: Less than a month after capturing the man-eater tiger from Koodallur, the forest department in Wayanad is again in a fix to trap a tigress adhering to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) guidelines. It is learnt that the forest officials have identified the wild animal from the camera trap. South Wayanad Divisional Forest Officer Shajna Karim in a press release said that the tigress that killed pigs at Moodakolly has been identified as WWL-39, enlisted in the data bank of the forest department as the inmate of Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary.
“All the procedural steps are underway to catch the problem animal. Chief Wildlife Warden had issued an order to catch the animal using cage traps. The officials have already set cage traps and live camera traps on the spot. Field staff are also deployed for surveillance,” she said.
With a penchant for pig meat, the tigress has been straying into the pig farms of Moodakolly, hardly ‘1 km’ away from Koodallur, inviting much wrath from the agrarian community. It was on December 18 that the Rapid Response Team of the Department of Forest and Wildlife trapped the man-eater tiger (WWL-45) of 13 years old, a male tiger that killed Prajeesh, a dairy farmer of Moodakolly on December 9.
The new problem animal had earlier killed and devoured 20 pigs from the pig farm of Karikulath Sreenesh and Kollamparambil Sreejith on January 6. Though the forest department had set cages on the spot, the animal, though it had roamed around, managed to avoid the trap. The local people alleged that the forest department personnel deployed for surveillance duty on the spot had scared away the tiger using crackers. Following this, the natives alleged that the forest officials themselves had been attempting to foil the capture of the animal. This led to a heated exchange of words between both groups.
In the sequel to this, the forest department also submitted a complaint to the police against five persons including one of the farm owners for allegedly preventing its officials from discharging their duty.
Amid this, the tigress devoured another five pigs in the wee hours of Sunday, triggering much hue and cry from the farmers. The disappearance of five pigs came to light when Sreenesh, one of the owners, went to feed the pigs on Sunday morning. During a search, the farm owner noticed the pug marks of the big cat and remnants of the animals. On Sunday, a group of farmers had waylaid the forest department personnel who had arrived to inspect the cage laid in the locality. The protesters demanded the officials provide piglets and compensation for their loss.
