Villagers blocked vehicular traffic on the Mananthavady-Sulthan Bathery State Highway at Manthankolly near Sulthan Bathery in Wayanad on Saturday morning seeking protection from wild animal attacks.
A milching cow, owned by Govindan of Varyathuparambil at Choorimala, was killed in a tiger attack on Friday night, provoking the mob. The cow had gone missing on Friday after it was taken for grazing on a plantation. In a search led by the villagers, the partially consumed carcass of the cow was found inside the plantation on Saturday morning. Later the forest officials also ascertained that the animal was killed by a tiger.
Triggers panic
The presence of a tiger has triggered panic among the villagers in the Manthankolly area near Choorimala for the past many months. The protesters said sighting of a big cat was reported from various parts of the area adjacent to the Chethalayath range of forest under the South Wayanad forest division.
Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary Assistant Warden K. Ranjthkumar and Deputy Range Officer A. Gopalakrishnan held discussions with the protesters and promised that steps would be expedited to provide a fair compensation to the famer for the loss of his cattle.
Surveillance cameras
Patrolling by forest officials would be intensified in the area and two surveillance cameras would be installed to monitor the movement of the big cat.
Meanwhile, South Wayanad Forest Divisional Officer Shajna Kareem told The Hindu that the presence of a tiger had been reported in the Manathankolly area a few weeks ago and a monitoring committee was constituted to capture the animal as per the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
“We have set up two surveillance lenses at the Choorimala area and if we get the image of the predator we will ask the permission of the Chief Wildlife Warden on Monday to set up a cage to capture the tiger,” she said.
