Officials of the Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department drove back a tigress and its cubs, which had triggered panic among villagers at Vakery in Wayanad, into the forest .
The operation was initiated after a partially consumed carcass of a spotted deer was found in a private coffee plantation near Vakery town under the Meppadi forest range of the South Wayanad Forest Division on Wednesday night.
“We drove away the three animals from a human habitation at Vakery around 8 p.m. on Friday to the Mannundi forest under the South Wayanad Forest Division, South Wayanad Divisional Forest Officer Shajna Kareem told The Hindu.
It took around two hours to drive the animals back into the forest by bursting crackers, sounding drums, and firing guns.
As many as 31 frontline forest staff, including members of the Rapid Response Team of the Forest department, participated in the operation.
“The entry of the animals into thickly populated areas had triggered anxiety among people, but we had already alerted residents about the operation and advised them to stay put in their houses,” Ms. Kareem, who supervised the operation, said.
Five trackers were engaged on tree tops near the pre-planned routes to watch the movement of the animals, she added. Later, the predators entered the adjoining Mannundi forest, nearly 2-km away from the human habitat.
They did not attack humans or domestic animals, though they crossed many village roads, she said.
A police team led by P. Sasidharan, Station House Officer, Kenichira, assisted the forest team.
