Elusive tiger captured in south Kodagu

Mysuru/ Madikeri: A tiger which had killed several cattle heads over the few weeks in South Kodagu was captured by forest department officials at Belluru village on Wednesday. This comes within 24 hours of capturing a four-year-old tiger in Bandipur.
Both the tigers are now undergoing treatment at the Mysuru zoo.
A team led by the Virajpet forest division incharge DCF Roshni and Thithimathi ACF Sripathi succeeded in capturing the tiger that gave sleepless nights to villagers in Tuchamakeri, Ballyamanduru, Nadikeri, Beguru, T Shettigeri and surrounding areas in South Kodagu.
The tiger, supected to have ventured out of the Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, was sighted outside the forest area several times and the foresters launched the drive to nab it days ago with the help of veterinarians Dr Sanath and Ranjan Devaiah.
The tiger was tracked to an estate in the village where it had left its kill. The foresters waited for it to get back to the spot and tranquilised the big cat.What came in handy was night vision binoculars that were donated to the department. “The tiger is believed to be six years old and has minor injury on its left jaw. It is, however, healthy,” said the officials. The National Tiger Conservation Authority had given a green signal to Karnataka government’s proposal to nab the tiger in February.
Treatment at Mysuru zoo
The two tigers, one captured from Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Chamarajanagar and another from Kodagu, were shifted to the Chamundi Animal Conservation, Rescue and Rehabilitation on Wednesday morning. Mysuru zoo director Ajit M Kulkarni told TOI, “Both have injuries. We have kept the tigers in separate enclosures to allow them to relax and calm,” he said.
Kulkarni said that no staff or officer has been allowed to venture near the enclosure as the tigers may get irritated by the sight of the humans. “There are chances the irritated tigers might bite or scratch the iron bars of the cage in anger and receive injuries on their canines and claws. After the tigers calm down, we will sedate them to inspect the injuries and start medical treatment,” he said.