DNA test shows captured Nagarhole tiger not the killer of 7-year-old

The DNA report by the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, has confirmed that the Karnataka Forest Department has captured the wrong tiger at Mettikupe range in Nagarhole Tiger Reserve in their hunt for the animal that killed a seven-year-old boy.

The report, which was submitted to the Forest Department on Saturday, said the tiger that killed the boy at Kallahatti village in H D Kote taluk of Mysuru on September 4 was a female, while forest officials have captured an eight-year-old male tiger.

Locals had informed the department that the tiger which had killed the boy was much smaller than the one captured on September 19.

Sources told DH the tigress may have killed the boy since she was pregnant and was searching for easy prey. 

However, going by the National Tiger Conservation Authority guidelines, the captured tiger cannot be released into the wild since the chances of it turning into a man eater were high as it had lost its canines while being shifted from Nagarhole to Shivamogga’s Tyavarekoppa Lion and Tiger Safari Zoo on September 21.

“The male tiger will spend the rest of its life in jail (zoo) for a crime it has not committed, while the female that killed the boy and tasted human blood is still on the prowl,” said a senior forest department official, who did not wish to be named. Officials who ordered the capture of the tiger and shifted it to Tyavarekoppa even before establishing that it was the “killer”, have to take the blame, he said. 

Sources say the forest department was under pressure from villagers, elected representatives and the media. “We had to act. Residents of Kallahatti were baying for the tiger’s blood. We made all efforts to capture the right tiger. Had we received the DNA report earlier, we could have avoided this fiasco,” said an officer.

Nagarhole Field Director C Harshakumar said they wanted to capture both the tigers as they were in conflict. “The male tiger had lost one tooth before the capture and lost another during shifting,” he said.

However, forest guards and officials had told DH that during capture, the tiger’s teeth and nails were intact.