Officials kill tiger in Wayanad

Shaju Philip : Thiruvananthapuram, Mon Dec 03 2012, 03:58 hrs Man-animal conflict has led to the killing of a male tiger near the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary in north Kerala on Sunday. The forest officials shot dead the beast which apparently had been attacking domestic animals of the human settlement near the sanctuary. Although the issue has been a routine affair in this region, the issue got a new dimension with rumours that the sanctuary would be soon declared a tiger reserve. Under pressure from the locals and their political representatives, a team of forest officials with the help of their counterparts from Karnataka have been trying to capture the tiger for the last one week. The personnel had placed four cages with live baits in different places but could not capture the beast. They even placed surveillance cameras and used trained elephants to tour the forest areas. On Sunday morning, the forest team spotted the tiger in a private land and shot a tranquilising dart. But it could not tame the tiger. So they fired another one, following which the animal turned against the team. Sanctuary wildlife warden S Sreekumar said at this stage the team, comprising veterinary surgeons, had little option but to fire the killer shot. “We have invoked the section 11 (1) A of Wildlife Act for self-defence. Otherwise, the animal would have attacked the men,” he said. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/officials-kill-tiger-in-wayanad/1039597/