Search for killer tiger in TN extended to more areas

The forest combing team, which has been in search to track and hunt down the killer tiger, code-named MDT23 has now extended its search to Tamil Nadu's Masinagudi and Singara areas.

Two Kumki elephants have been pressed into service to track the killer tiger. The elephants, Udayan and Srinivas have rejoined the task force which has spread out into the forest areas.

The Chief WildLife Warden, Tamil Nadu, Shekar Kumar Neeraj had on Saturday ordered to shoot down the tiger after local people protested following the death of four men and 12 cattle in village localities bordering the forest area in Gudalur.

The tiger, according to the forest officials is not healthy and hence it was not able to hunt down its prey in the forest and had made a habit of venturing out into human settlements to find its prey easily. The tiger has already killed four men.

The forest officials in the combing team while speaking to IANS said, "The tiger is hungry and according to our information it has not taken food since the past seventy-two hours and it will definitely venture out.

Around 60 forest personnel from Tamil Nadu forest department and the tiger trackers from the Kerala forest department are into the operation to hunt down the tiger for the past few days but the big cat remains elusive.


The team is led by the Chief Wildlife Warden of Tamil Nadu, Shekar Kumar Neeraj. After villagers informed about the presence of a weak tiger in the nearby forest at Singara, the combing operation commenced from this area.

Forest official sources told IANS, "Some statements cannot be taken into account. But we are not leaving any stone unturned and are in full throttle to get the animal. Hope it will be successful by today."

A senior official said, "We have searched five km radius within the forest land on Sunday but there was no trace of the animal. Drones and sniffer dogs were used, but the animal remains untraceable. We are tracking MDT 23 by its stripes and have circulated the printout of this tiger to all the teams."

The Masanigudi-Theppakadu road remained closed for the second day creating loss of tourist inflow in the area - IANS