‘Man-eater tiger’ taken to quarantine centre in Kerala’s Puthur Zoological park

PTI, Dec 19, 2023, 11:28 AM IST

The tiger which had attacked and killed a 36-year-old man in Vakeri in Wayanad district of the state earlier this month, was brought by forest officials to the quarantine centre at the Puthur Zoological park here on Tuesday.

After the tiger was captured on Monday, there were protests and stiff opposition from locals in Vakeri demanding that the tiger be shot and killed instead of being rehabilitated.

However, after an order was received to take the tiger to the zoological park, it was taken there under observation of an expert team, forest officials told media.

”There were some protests and obstructions, but we managed to bring it here without any problems,” the forest officials said.

The zoo officials and doctors said that the first priority was to assess the wounds on the face and right paw of the big cat and treat the same.

”It is being kept in this cage for now till its wounds are assessed, treated and its health is stabilised. Thereafter, it would be moved into the cubicles in the zoo,” one of the officials of the park said.

The age of the tiger — around 13 years — would also be a factor in its treatment and subsequent recovery process, the doctors said.

It would be the third tiger at the zoo where two female big cats are already lodged, the park officials said.

They also said that there would be a naming ceremony for the latest inmate of the park, but the first priority was its treatment and stabilisation.

The tiger was captured by the Forest Department in a trap set up near a local settlement close to Vakeri.

Following that, the locals demanded that the animal be shot and killed instead of being taken to a rehabilitation centre.

As a result, even after several hours of its capture, the forest department was unable to transport the tiger to a nearby rehabilitation centre.

The locals’ anger stemmed from the suspicion that the ‘man-eater’ tiger killed Vakeri resident Prajeesh, who’s half-eaten body was found near a forest area here on December 9 when he went to collect grass for his cattle.

As Prajeesh did not return even after several hours, his brother went searching for him and found the body in a nearby forest area.

Soon after Prajeesh’s body was found, the Forest department had issued orders to kill the animal if it could not be captured or tranquilised.

The December 10 order said that maximum effort should be taken either to cage or tranquilise the animal as per the National Tiger Conservation Authority norms.

Forest officials had set up four cages with the rapid response team patrolling the region using drones to track the tiger.