Surveillance stepped up to monitor tigers in Nilgiris

COIMBATORE: A day after a 38-year-old man was killed in a tiger attack in The Nilgiris, the forest department got into action by fixing camera traps and deploying surveillance teams.

“Surveillance in the spot where the farmer was found dead has been enhanced by deploying a 20-member team from the forest department. They patrol around the locality around the clock. Also, 15 camera traps were placed to monitor the movement of the carnivore. If the tiger comes around, then efforts will be taken to capture the animal by placing cages,” said a senior official of the forest department.

M Kendhar Kuttan, a Toda tribe from Kollakodumund, a hamlet in ‘Governor Shola', was mauled to death by a tiger. The villagers spotted his partially eaten body amidst a thicket on Thursday. He came under attack while grazing buffalo.

This is the second incident of life loss in a fortnight, as a 50-year-old woman who went missing recently while plucking tea leaves in an estate in Kalibata near Ooty was killed in an attack by a leopard.

Meanwhile, the Nilgiris MP, A Raja, handed over Rs ten lakhs as the government’s compensation to the kin of the deceased at their house on Friday.

“A special scheme will be rolled out soon to mitigate frequent incidents of man-animal conflicts in the Nilgiris,” he said to the media.