Chennai: Tamilnadu Chief Wildlife Warden Shekar Kumar Niraj has issued an order to hunt ‘T23’, a tiger, which is said to have killed four persons so far, including a 55-year-old man on Friday, in Nilgiris district.
The order has been issued after concluding that the big cat has ‘become very dangerous’ to human life in the locality.
After the tiger, which had killed a shepherd in an estate near Gudalur recently, the Forest department started search operations to trap the feline by tranquilising it.
However, the tiger, with injuries, gave the slip to nearly 100 Forest department staff and officials, including some from the Special Task Force from Kerala and two tamed elephants for the last six days.
In an order issued under Section 11 (a) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, Shekhar said the Conservator of Forests and Field Director, Muthamalai Tiger Reserve, Udhagamandalam, has been authorised to take immediate action to hunt down the tiger identified as MDT 23 by engaging forest department personnel with strict adherence to the provisions of the section and the Guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) as the tiger has become very dangerous to human life in the area.
It was noted that the entire operation should be carried out meticulously and assistance from Kerala’s forest team and special task force should be taken for hunting down the tiger.