The carcass of a cow killed by a tiger was found near Kongalli village in Talavadi Hills on Monday.
The farmers found the carcass 200 meters from the forest area and alerted the Jerahalli forest range of Hasnoor division under the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR). The officials inspected the spot and found pugmarks and confirmed the presence of the tiger. Camera traps were installed to monitor the movements of the animals. Officials said that based on the movement of the tiger, a decision will be taken to set up a cage to trap it.
This is the fifth death of cattle in the hilly region in the last 22 days. Of the five cows, four were killed by the tiger and one by the leopard.
Kannaiyan Subramaniam, convener of Talavadi Farmers Association, said that the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) should be followed to deal with wild carnivores. They told Hindu Scientific monitoring of wild animals, checking the availability of prey inside forest areas and speedy settlement of compensation to the affected farmers should be done.
“Local bodies should also be involved to check whether animals are attracted to pigs and monkeys that depend on waste dumped outside human settlements,” he said.