Maneater tiger trapped, moved to Thrissur zoo

Kozhikode: The tiger that killed and devoured a person at Kurichiad range of the Wayanad wildlife sanctuary  was trapped in the iron cage placed  by the forest department  in the wee hours of Tuesday.

The animal had killed and partially eaten Baburaj, 23,  early this month. The remnants of the body were found at two locations on July 3. The entire jungle villages near the sanctuary had been terrorised  as every day reports of cattle lifting by the tiger continued to flow in.   

Muthanga forest range officer S. Heeralal told DC that the animal was aged between ten  and 15 years. “The ‘hook teeth’ and catching claws were almost rotten,” he said and added  that this handicap might have forced the tiger  to become a cattle lifter and later a man-eater.

For the last many days,  the forest department personnel had been  waiting in the jungle monitoring the movement of the tiger.   Three cages were placed at separate locations with the prey tied up in the cages.

Night guards said that there were sounds of roar  towards 3 a.m. and the team of officials reached the point by 7 a.m.

The animal was shifted to the zoo in  Thrissur as it was unable to hunt in the wild.