The carcass of a cow that was killed by a tiger was found near Kongalli village in Talavadi Hills on Monday.
Farmers found the carcass 200 metres from the forest area and alerted the Jerahalli Forest Range of Hasanur Division that comes under Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR). Officials inspected the spot and found pugmarks and confirmed the tiger’s presence. Camera traps were placed to track the movement of the animal. Officials said that based on the tiger’s movement, a decision on placing a cage would be taken to trap it.
This is the fifth cattle kill reported in the hill area in the last 22 days. Of the five cows, four were killed by a tiger and one by a leopard.
Kannaiyan Subramaniyam, convener of Talavadi Farmers’ Association, said the National Tiger Conservation Authority’s (NTCA) standard operating procedures (SOP) should be followed while dealing with strayed wild carnivores. He told The Hindu that scientific monitoring of wild animals, checking prey availability inside forest areas and speedy disposal of compensation to the affected farmers should be carried out.
“Local bodies should also be roped in to check whether animals are attracted towards pigs and monkeys that depend on dumped garbage outside human habitations,” he added.
