Environment

HUMAN-TIGER CONFLICT CONTINUES IN KODAGU WITH 3 HUMAN KILLS

Meera Bhardwaj

With three people killed in tiger attacks at different times in Kodagu district, Karnataka, India, people rise in protest and call for immediate “shooting down” of the “dangerous animal” that has allegedly killed a boy and injured one on Monday. Forest officials say operations to capture the tiger is still continuing and the animal was sighted on Tuesday also but could not be darted.

It is not just human killings but this elusive big cat has reportedly lifted and killed cattle in the surrounding villages of south Kodagu. The last few years, many villages in Ponnampet taluk have been facing frequent elephant raids and leopard incursions which has resulted in injuries, deaths, cattle and crop losses.

Speaking to Green Minute, Virajpet DCF Chakrapani said “Attempts to capture the tiger is going on. The animal has been sighted on and off and we are regularly tracking it. We have not been able to dart the animal till now. We have been able to identify the animal which has killed the boy. The tiger looks to be healthy, moving normally with no injuries.”

The killing of Ramaswamy, an eight-year-old boy in Belluru village, Ponnampet taluk on Monday morning proved to be the last straw and has triggered massive resentment in this region against tigers and other wildlife. No compensation paid by the forest department can cool down the angry voices of the suffering villagers.

At 6.30 am, the boy’s grandfather – Kencha Shetty was working in the coffee estate of C K Subbaiah when the tiger pounced on the young boy from behind and killed him. Although the tiger killed the boy but did not eat and disappeared fast. The grandfather who tried to save the boy was severely injured and has been admitted to a hospital in Mysuru.

Since Monday afternoon, forest officials have been on their toes and are camping in this area to catch the tiger. A team comprising 135 frontline forest staff from Virajpet division, vets and elephants are busy carrying out combing operations to dart the tiger. Since Monday night, the villagers of Belluru have been sitting in dharna on the Ponnampet-Kutta Road and said they will be satisfied only when the animal is shot down. Just listen to what the local residents say about the conflict.

Now which is the “tiger” that has turned dangerous and is responsible for such attacks? Three killings have occurred and the animal has to be identified scientifically based on camera traps and physical markings and then the tiger captured through tranquillization. However, with rising anger and continuing conflict in this area, there is hardly any time for the forest officials to “identify the right animal” as people are sitting in dharna and demanding the tiger be shot and its dead body displayed to them.

Last month on 20th, a tiger had killed two people in the same area – Kumatoor (Ayyappa, a 16-year-old boy) and T Shettigeri (a middle-aged woman) villages in the south of the district. All these incidents have happened when the victim was out in the plantation area which are now frequented by big carnivores. The killings have happened early mornings when the victims were either working in the estates or were busy attending nature’s call.

In the earlier case of two killings, the next day itself, forest officials captured one female tiger (that was injured) and said this was the animal which had killed two people. But 16 days later, with another person being killed in the same region, forest officials have said this is a different tiger. With people protesting and demanding immediate action, authorities have given orders for “shooting the tiger” in the event of failure to dart and capture it.

This was the third kill in the last 16 days in three villages of Ponnampet taluk that are about 5-6 kilometers from the Srimangala Range of Nagarhole tiger reserve. The villages with their coffee estates are verdant and forested. According to wildlife activists, the problem here is encroachment and loss of wildlife corridors. The last three years, people have been facing conflict with tigers, leopards and elephants which stray from protected areas. Unless and until, these issues are settled, man-animal conflict will continue with both man and animal suffering.