Elusive tiger captured by Kerala forest department dies within hours
Elusive tiger captured by Kerala forest department dies within hours
South First Desk
March 22, 2024
An elusive tiger, roaming around in a human settlement in Kannur for more
than two weeks, that was successfully tranquilised and captured by Forest
officials a day ago, died hours later, the Forest department said on
Friday, 22 March.
According to a senior Forest official of the district, the tiger had
puncture wounds on its chest and a lot of pus in its upper respiratory
tract.
The post-mortem of the wild animal would be conducted on Friday, at Pookode
Veterinary College under the supervision of a specially constituted
committee and as part of the process toxicology and histopathology samples
would be taken and sent for testing, the official said.
“Only after we get all those reports would we be able to conclude what the
exact cause of death was,” he said.
On Thursday, 21 March, a team of forest officials managed to corner the
tiger within a rubber plantation in Karyamkapp near Ulikkal in Kannur,
administering tranquillizers before safely confining it in a cage.
Later, it was shifted to the Kannavam Forest Office premises where it died.
Locals Protest Against Inaction
Two weeks ago, local residents informed the forest department about the
tiger’s presence in the area. But it was not confirmed during their search.
However, five days ago, while returning from work in the afternoon, a
rubber-tapping worker saw a tiger in the plantation near his house and
recorded footage of it on his mobile phone.
Later, locals and Forest officials spotted the tiger several times and set
up three cages, but they were unable to capture it.
This prompted the local residents to protest against the Forest officials.
Finally, on Thursday afternoon, the tiger was spotted in the rubber
plantation, and the forest guards surrounded it and tranquillized it by 3
pm.
The tiger, after being tranquillized, ran a short distance, but within half
an hour, the Forest guards caught it and locked it in a cage.
Previous Incidents
In February 2024, a rogue tusker Thanner Komban who was captured in Kerala,
and then transferred to Karnatakata, died hours after being captured.
The tusker was darted with tranquiliser shots twice before being loaded
onto a truck with the help of kumki elephants for being transported to
Bandipur in Karnataka.
“After reaching Bandipur in the night, it was decided to conduct an
examination before releasing the jumbo back into the forests,” Kerala
Minister AK Saseendran had told reporters then in Kozhikode.
However, it is understood that the elephant was dead before the
examination, the Minister said.
The Kerala government had then appointed a high-level committee headed by a
chief conservator of forests (CCF) to probe whether there were any lapses
in the capturing of Thaneer Komban.
The doctors who were part of the necropsy of the elephant told that as per
preliminary reports, the cause of death was “pulmonary arrest”.
“There was a 40-cm-wide wound on the elephant’s thigh, which was filled
with pus. There are chances of infection. We have collected the samples
which will be sent to the laboratory for further examination,” Wayand
Forest Veterinary Officer Dr Ajesh Mohandas, who was present during the
autopsy of the elephant, told reporters.
He further said that the injury in the thigh was over a month old and the
pulmonary arrest was due to that infection.
Mohandas said the animal had undergone heavy stress and trauma twice in the
last month.