Elusive tiger captured after weeks of roaming in Kerala village, dead

Kannur: An elusive tiger, roaming around in a human settlement here 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.

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 today 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, a team of forest officials managed to corner the tiger within a rubber plantation in Karyamkapp near Ulikkal here, administering tranquilizers before safely confining it in a cage.

Later, it was shifted to the Kannavam Forest Office premises where it died.

Two weeks ago, local residents had 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 had 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 tranquilised it by 3 pm.

The tiger, after being tranquilized, ran a short distance, but within half an hour, the Forest guards caught it and locked it in a cage.