Officials of the South Wayanad forest division shifted a tiger captured from a human habitat at Vanamoolika, near Vadanakkavala, in Wayanad district of Kerala to the Thrissur zoo on February 28 (Wednesday) morning.
The tiger, aged about seven years, which triggered panic among residents in the Surabhikkavala, Thanni Theruvu and Vadanakkavala areas near Pulpally under the Chethalayath forest range of the forest division, was captured on February 26 (Monday) morning.
The animal, identified as WWL-127, a resident of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, was under observation at the animal hospice and palliative care unit for big cats at Sulthan Bathery.
The big cat was shifted to the zoo after it was found that the animal was not fit to be released in the wild as it had lost all its canine teeth, Chethalayath forest range officer Abdul Samad told The Hindu. It is suspected that the animal might have lost the teeth in a territorial fight with another big cat.
The animal was shifted in a wildlife ambulance around 10 p.m. on Tuesday from Sulthan Bathery and it was handed over to the zoo authorities at 6 a.m. on Wednesday following the protocol of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, he said.
Apart from a team of forest officials, a team of veterinarians accompanied the big cat.
This is the third tiger being shifted to the zoo from Wayanad in a year.
The tiger was previously spotted in the adjacent Nagarahole National Park in Karnataka in 2020-21 and it was identified as 21MTK-15, a resident of the national park.
