Operation to capture tiger at Kalasur enters 21st day

The operation to capture a tiger, that had attacked one person and a few cattle, near Kalasur in H D Kote taluk, has completed 20 days.

The tiger has not only eluded the traps set up by Forest officials, it has also not been spotted by forest department personnel, who are keeping a watch in the area, since a few days. The department had launched the operation on July 24, after the tiger attacked a youth named Ramu, near Kalasur Gate, located in the fringes of N Begur Forest Range of Bandipur Tiger Reserve.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, H C Kantharaju, Director of the Reserve, said, the tiger might have returned to the forest. “It appears that the tiger was pushed out of its territory by a younger tiger. While it was spotted by officials during the first two weeks, it has not appeared recently,” he said.

Department staff, who were combing the area, have tracked the tiger’s pug-marks, deep inside the reserve. The feline has not been spotted in any of the camera traps set up around the area, since a week, he added.

Replying to a question if the tiger would have died of starvation, Kantharaju said, even though the feline was not spotted recently, it would be too early to conclude that it is dead. “If the tiger is alive, attack on cattle would have been repeated. It is also possible that the tiger might have moved deep inside the reserve,” he said.

Since, the department staff have not found any tiger carcass, it is possible that the tiger is still alive, he added.

Chikkarajendra D K, RFO of N Begur Forest, said, no incident of attack on cattle has been reported in the region since two weeks. He said, the department personnel were guarding the region and the cages have also not been moved.