KOZHIKODE: The 344.44 sq km Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) has the maximum number of tigers in the state, as per the state forest and wildlife department. WWS has 75 big cats, of the total 176 found in the state, according to the Tiger Monitoring Programme conducted in 2016.
The incident of tiger mauled to death 24-year old Shivakumar at Kathuvakunnu forest in Pulpally on Wednesday has once again brought the unending human-wild conflict to the fore.
Five persons have lost their life to tigers in the district in the last five years. All these incidents happened inside the forest and four of them under Wayanad Wildlife Division. "All those killed were tribal youths, including a forest watcher living on the forest fringes." said a Forest Range Officer.
'More resources, monitoring need of the hour'
Though WWS has more tigers in the state as well as the continuation of three tiger reserves; Nagerhole and Bandipur in Karnataka and Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu, a tiger reserve status still remains a dream for the sanctuary. But at the same time, the two tiger reserves in the state-Periyar and Parambikulam - have less number of tigers compared to WWS. The main obstacle before WWS in getting tiger reserve status is the lack of political will coupled with local resistance.
"If people are scared of the tiger reserve status fearing more tiger attacks, let it remain as a sanctuary. But more funds and resources must be made available so that each tiger should be monitored like in Karnataka or Tamil Nadu. This will help fine-track the movement of the big cats and relocate them for the safety of people living on the fringes," said Vishnudas C K, Western Ghat environmentalist.
Meanwhile, the images of the big cat have been caught in the two of the 20 cameras fixed in the Kathuvakunnu forest in the wee hours of Friday. The forest officials had set a cage to catch the wild animal.
Victims of tiger attacks in Wayanad
1. Bhaskaran killed in January 2015 under Muthanga range
2. Baburaj of Kurichyad settlement killed in 2015 under Kurichiat range
3. Basavan, Forest watcher killed in 2017 under Tholpetty range
4. Jadayan, killed in December 2019 under Kurichiat range
5. Shivakumar killed on June 17 this year under Chethalath range.