Officials still clueless about tiger that claimed 3 lives

The team of officials from the forest department are still clueless about the tiger that had claimed three human lives and over 20 cattle in Ponnampet taluk, over the last 25 days.

More than 150 forest department officials including veterinarians are carrying out an operation to capture the tiger. Senior forest officials are also camping at the spot.

Meanwhile, the farmers are getting impatient over the failure of the officials to capture the tiger.

The people in the district have also started a Twitter campaign to urge Forest Minister Aravind Limbavali to visit the spot and accelerate the operation.

It is said that a tiger had reached the spot where a sharpshooter was camping. But, owing to a legal hurdle, he could neither capture nor shoot the tiger.

Barring pug marks, the team has not seen anything. The team of officials have been searching for the tiger all over and returning back empty-handed in the evening.

According to officials, the operation is taken up in the night as well. However, farmers alleged that no operation is taken up after 6 pm.

According to officials, cameras were placed at the spot where the tiger had been spotted. However, the cameras did not capture any photographs.

Two teams had taken up combing on either side of River Lakshmanatheertha and near Ishwara Temple in Nalkeri Hermadu.

A special hide cage too has been brought to tranquilise or shoot the tiger.

The search operations were also taken up at Haisodlooru, Nalkleri and other areas. Only pug marks were seen in the area, said the officials.

Three cages have been placed and eight calves have been tied in the spot where the tiger had been seen in the past. In addition, 24 cameras have been placed, said the Virajpet DCF.

To identify the pug marks, expert Soliga community members from Mahadeshwara Betta too have been deployed in the operation.

A poster urging people to inform the officials if they come across a tiger has been pasted in various places. The public has been asked to inform RFO Ravikiran at 89043 88601 or Bopanna at 94809 92292.

'Politicising issue'

Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Mahesh Jaini has condemned the issue of politicising the protest of farmers demanding the capture of the tiger in South Kodagu.

The tiger menace, along with elephant menace, has intensified across Kodagu district. It is not right to politicise the issue. The MP, MLAs and MLCs are in constant touch with the district administration and forest department officials, he said.

However, Congress is engaged in politicising the issue of farmers protest. The MLAs from the district have already raised the issue in the session and brought the issue to the notice of the forest minister, he added.