The tiger which had killed a woman at Balluruhundi close to Hediyala range of Bandipur National Park was darted and captured in the early hours of Tuesday, November 28, 2023.
A massive combing operation involving more than 200 forest department personnel and tribals from the local villages, was launched soon after Rathnamma was killed in the attack on Friday.
A thermal drone was also deployed to monitor the tiger’s movement while 55 camera traps were set to capture its image and ascertain the identity and the exercise yielded success within four days. Besides, three elephants – Rohit, Parthasarthy and Hiranya – were used for combing and reaching terrain not accessible by vehicles.
The tiger was identified as U-2371, a male which is about 10 years old based on the stripe pattern which was matched with the data base of tigers available with the forest department.
Ramesh Kumar, Director, Bandipur National Park said the tiger was darted at 1.45 a.m. and had come to devour a cattle kill at Ballurudhundi. The capture of the tiger initially proved to be tricky as it used to be sighted close to the village only to retreat into the jungles again. Besides, it was involved in two cattle kills in a span of 24 hours near Balluruhundi itself which was evident from the camera trap images, said Mr. Kumar.
Based on the tiger’s movements, the authorities set up cages close to the cattle kill and camouflaged it with vegetation while two veterinarians – Dr.Wasim Mirza and Dr.Pradeep – locked themselves inside and positioned to tranquilise it on Monday evening. But the tiger did not make its appearance and the authorities decided to wait till dawn and the two veterinarians stayed put in the cage.
Around 1.45 a.m. the tiger was sighted by the two veterinarians from their camouflaged cage and it was moving gingerly towards the site of the cattle kill and they fired the dart which found is mark. As soon as the tranquiliser had its affect the forest department personnel swooped around it, put it in a net and shifted the tiger to a cage.
Mr. Kumar said the tiger has been shifted to Chamundi Animal Conservation, Rescue and Rehabilitation centre set up by the Mysuru zoo at Koorgalli village, off Mysuru-Hunsur Road. The authorities had recovered a few strands of tiger’s hair at the spot where Rathnamma was killed on Friday. The same will be used for DNA analysis to confirm scientifically that it is the same tiger that has been captured, he added.
The news of the tiger’s capture has brought relief to the local villagers as it had attacked another farmer a few weeks ago but he had escaped without injuries.
Meanwhile, combing operations continue in the Moliyur range where another farmer -Balaji Naik - was killed in a tiger attack in the first week of November.
