Capture, don't kill the T23 tiger: Madras High Court orders in favour of wildlife activist

Madras High Court shunned Forest Department's order to kill the T23 tiger which has killed 4 people so far. Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee said the wanted tiger may not be a man-eater, and asked the forest department to report on how they are going to capture the ferocious big cat

Chennai: The Madras High Court ordered Forest Department not to kill the T23 tiger, which created a sense of threat in Masinagudi area. Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee pronounced the order and said that the wanted tiger may not be a man-eater. "Don't kill it. Capture the tiger without disturbing other animals." The HC also asked the forest department to file a report on the process of capturing the big cat. The matter will be heard after two weeks.

The petitioner, Sangeeta Dogra, Uttar Pradesh based wildlife activist in her PIL filed on October 2 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, triggering uproar in the area with people demanding the killing of the tiger. Five special teams were formed over Tamil Nadu Chief Wildlife Warden Shekhar Kumar Niraj's order on October 1 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 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.