Man-eating tiger of Ooty killed by STF personnel

Despite having set out to tranquilise it, Special Task Force personnel shot and killed the man-eating tiger of Dodabetta, in Tamil Nadu. Tourism and life in the area had come to a standstill after the animal killed three persons. “The STF personnel were also trying to trap the animal. But, they claimed that they shot the tiger when it attempted to attack them,” a senior forest officer was quoted as saying in a Hindu report. On Wednesday, after reports that the movement of the animal was recorded in a camera, villagers of Kappachi gathered with sickle and wooden logs and ventured into the jungle to trap the tiger. [caption id=“attachment_1355077” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] People of nearby villages like Kundachappai, Dummanhatti, also joined them in the combing operations, along with the personnel from forest department, snipers and special task force. The STF personnel reportedly shot the tiger around 7:30 pm and a team of forest, police personnel along with veterinarians, joined them with lights to find the body. The livelihood of people in eight villages has been hit for the last 15 days, due to the futile attempts by forest department to catch it, since they could not go for work in tea estates, spread over 5,000 acres as the tiger was on the prowl, villagers said. Villagers said they entered the jungle to trap or eliminate the animal as the fortnight-long efforts by authorities to capture it have been in vain. The tiger had killed two women and a man at Solada village, Doddabeta and Kundachappai areas. Reports of the animal being on the prowl had resulted in schools in the area being shut down, daily wage earners being unable to step out and a ban on tourism in the area to prevent any more casualties due to the animal. With inputs from PTI