Udhagamandalam: Two Kumkis from Theppakadu Elephant Camp Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) and three more dog squads on Sunday joined the ongoing operation to nab the problematic tiger. Masinagudi in the Nilgiris.
The mission to capture/pacify the big cat continued for the ninth day on Sunday.
At the beginning of the operation, the exercise of tracking the pugmarks in the Masinagudi forest range was done, but in vain. According to a forest official, apart from STF personnel, the Nilgiri and Wayanad teams, comprising a total of 150 personnel, were divided into three groups and a search operation was carried out.
Apart from a sniffer, a native breed of ‘Sippiparai’ from Gudalur Division, three more sniffer dogs, jockeys, a sniffer from Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve, Rana, a sniffer from Karnataka and another from Kerala were brought to the site . Each sniffer dog was accompanied by their respective trainers during the search operation.
While Kumki Srinivasan reached the place in the Masinagudi range in the morning, Kumki reached Udayan in the afternoon. Two drones were also used in the search operation. “There was no sign of movement of the problematic tiger in any manner. No image of the tiger was found even in 15 cameras installed in and around the search operation area.
“The search operation will resume on Monday,” he said.
Local wildlife activists and forest officials are angered by a PIL filed before the Madras High Court challenging the order of the forest department to hunt tigers. In this connection, an animal activist from UP and People for Cattle from Chennai has approached the Madras High Court.
“The petitioner has no right in the ongoing scientific operation to capture the tiger, which killed three people and 10 cattle in the last two-and-a-half months,” said an activist.
A senior forest official said, “The search operation is carried out scientifically as per the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority. It is only after the third killing of the tiger that the hunting order is issued to intensify the operation. ”
The mission to capture/pacify the big cat continued for the ninth day on Sunday.
At the beginning of the operation, the exercise of tracking the pugmarks in the Masinagudi forest range was done, but in vain. According to a forest official, apart from STF personnel, the Nilgiri and Wayanad teams, comprising a total of 150 personnel, were divided into three groups and a search operation was carried out.
Apart from a sniffer, a native breed of ‘Sippiparai’ from Gudalur Division, three more sniffer dogs, jockeys, a sniffer from Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve, Rana, a sniffer from Karnataka and another from Kerala were brought to the site . Each sniffer dog was accompanied by their respective trainers during the search operation.
While Kumki Srinivasan reached the place in the Masinagudi range in the morning, Kumki reached Udayan in the afternoon. Two drones were also used in the search operation. “There was no sign of movement of the problematic tiger in any manner. No image of the tiger was found even in 15 cameras installed in and around the search operation area.
“The search operation will resume on Monday,” he said.
Local wildlife activists and forest officials are angered by a PIL filed before the Madras High Court challenging the order of the forest department to hunt tigers. In this connection, an animal activist from UP and People for Cattle from Chennai has approached the Madras High Court.
“The petitioner has no right in the ongoing scientific operation to capture the tiger, which killed three people and 10 cattle in the last two-and-a-half months,” said an activist.
A senior forest official said, “The search operation is carried out scientifically as per the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority. It is only after the third killing of the tiger that the hunting order is issued to intensify the operation. ”
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