Chamarajanagar: The forest department has had little success so far in catching a tiger that has mauled cattle in villages near the Gopalaswamy Betta range of the Bandipur National Park in Gundlupet taluk of Charamajanagar, causing panic among the villagers.
Although as many as seven cages have been placed by the forest officials in and around Chowdalli, Shivapura and other villages near the national park to trap the tiger, it remains elusive. Interestingly, it seems to have fed on the baits in the cages, but escaped.
To add to the fears of the villagers, fresh pug marks of a tiger were seen at a farm in Shivapura early Thursday morning. The farmer , who owns it, said he suspected the tiger was the same as the one which had mauled a villager, Shivamadaiah, around a month ago.
According to him, the same tiger has mauled six cattle in the villages and has created such fear among labourers that they are reluctant to work in fields close to the forest. It also appears to have attacked wild boars in the fields, but has not been able to prey on them.
Attempts by forest officers to sedate the tiger in operations using tame elephants have been unsuccessful so far. G S Betta Range Forest Officer, Naveen Kumar, who has tracked its pug marks, told the Deccan Chronicle, “We have permission to tranquilise the tiger, but it has not been sighted outside the forest boundary for us to sedate it. Moreover, we cannot sedate the animal after 6 pm.”
