The Forest department has intensified its search for the elusive tiger that reportedly killed many domestic animals in the Moodakkolly area under the Chethalayath forest range in the South Wayanad Forest Division in 11 days.
The big cat reportedly entered a pig farm owned by Sreejith of Kollam Parambil, a farmer at Vakery, three times since January 6 and reportedly killed as many as 26 piglets.
Though Forest personnel had set up two cages to capture the animal and installed 10 camera traps in the area to monitor its movements, it reportedly killed one more pig on Monday night.
“We have identified the animal as ‘WWL -39’, a tigress nearly 14 years old in the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, from the images we got from the camera traps,” Chethalayath Forest Range Officer Abdul Samad told The Hindu. The department had also intensified round-the-clock patrol in the area, he added.
Meanwhile, an all-party meeting, chaired by Wayanad District Collector Renu Raj to discuss the escalating man-animal conflict on Tuesday, urged those living on the fringes of forests to cooperate with Forest personnel.
Many a time, residents attempted to prevent Forest personnel from discharging their duty or stopped them from installing camera traps after a wildlife attack. Legal steps would be adopted against such actions, said Ms. Raj.
Meanwhile, people’s representatives demanded that the government execute projects to separate human and wildlife habitats to mitigate the issue urgently.
They also called for a discussion on the comprehensive master plan prepared by the Chief Conservator of Forests (North Zone) to mitigate man-animal conflict, in the presence of the Forest Minister and MLAs. They sought the constitution of a tribunal to provide fair compensation for the loss suffered by farmers. Additional District Magistrate N.I. Shaju and senior Forest department officials attended the meeting.
