The Forest Department has been on a tiger’s trail near Chowdahalli, adjoining the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, for the past two days, with little luck.
Though the tiger was sighted two days ago in a banana plantation, it had eluded the forest staff who had launched a combing operation in the area close to Himmavad Gopalaswamy Betta.
Five elephants have been deployed in the village and surrounding areas, and a cage with live bait has also been placed in the village. Bandipur Tiger Reserve Director Ambadi Madhav said the tiger had not attacked anyone so far, and it seemed to be feeding on wild boars that tend to stray into villages adjoining the national park boundary.
“The animal was sighted around 5.45 p.m. on Wednesday, but could not be darted as it was quite dark and there is no permission to dart and tranquillise after dark as per the Standard Operating Procedures developed by the NTCA,” he added.
Villagers had been advised to refrain from moving out after dark though the authorities suspect the tiger may have slinked into the jungles which is nearly 2 km away, but linked by vegetation and agricultural farms. The combing operation will resume on Friday.
