To kill or not to kill: Madras HC to hear plea on 'man-eater tiger' tomorrow

The Madras High Court will hear on October 5 a plea against wildlife department's order to 'hunt down' T23 tiger that killed four people. The matter will be heard on an emergency basis.

Chennai:The Madras High Court will hear the plea filed against the wildlife department's order to 'hunt down' the T23 tiger on October 5. The petitioner, Sangeeta Dogra, Uttar Pradesh based wildlife activist in her PIL stated that the tiger had not been scientifically proven to be a man-eater and added that the authorities have not followed any relevant laws before issuing the order.

The tiger has so far killed four men in Masinagudi, creating a sense of panic among people. Five special teams were formed over Tamil Nadu Chief Wildlife Warden Shekhar Kumar Niraj's order to 'hunt down' the tiger.

Responding to the petition, the chief warden had earlier said that they were trying to sedate the tiger and capture it. The forest department had no intention of killing the tiger. He expressed his optimism that the big cat would be nabbed in two days.

Meanwhile, forest officials and special teams continued combing the forests for the tiger as the search for the notorious tiger reached 10 days.

Even though four elite teams were deployed in Mudumali on October 2 to trace the tiger's location, it did not yield any significant result. A sniffer dog was used for tracking the big cat's location. The forest department order observed that tiger attacks have been reported since July. The male tiger aged 10-11 years was found to be injured in the territorial fight with other tigers. It strayed into the fringes, looking for easy prey.

After careful consideration of the reports submitted by Gudalur Forest Office and Nilgiris district collector, the chief wildlife warden has issued the order to capture the problematic tiger under section 11 of the Wildlife Protection Act and by the provisions issued by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

Masinagudi, which falls under Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, is known for its human-animal conflict.