Kerala: Locals protest after tiger spotted in area where elephant killed farmer
The residents of Padamala in Wayanad district of Kerala took out a protest march on Wednesday evening armed with burning torches demanding the capture of a tiger
The residents of Padamala in Wayanad district of Kerala took out a protest march on Wednesday evening armed with burning torches demanding the capture of a tiger that was spotted in the same area where a wild elephant barged into a home and trampled to death a farmer last week.
“We are anxious. We want to sleep at night in peace. For the past 4-5 days, we have not felt secure around our homes,” said a local woman who was part of the protest.
CCTV visuals on Wednesday showed an adult tiger leaping across a busy road in Padamala near where a woman was walking to church. She missed the big cat by a whisker.
“As I was walking to church, I heard a loud cry near me. First, I thought it’s a wild elephant. Before I could move ahead, I saw this big shadow (of the tiger) just move behind me. I cannot explain in words how I escaped,” the woman, who could not be identified, told a local channel.
As the visuals of the tiger was confirmed through CCTV, locals began a protest on the road demanding the intervention of the forest department in capturing the tiger. The locals have been in panic over the last few days following the attack of the wild elephant in their neighbourhood resulting in the death of 45-year-old Ajeesh, a farmer. Prohibitory orders are in place and schools have been shut in a few panchayats since the man-animal conflict began in the area last week.
Meanwhile, on the fourth consecutive day, forest officials were unsuccessful in tranquilising and capturing the wild elephant, referred to as ‘Belur Makhna’ by locals, which killed Ajeesh in Padamala near Mananthavady on Feb 10.
Though officials were able to spot the elephant twice, the presence of another wild pachyderm along with it made the situation tense. The other male elephant, even charged at the rapid response team (RRT) of the forest department, showed visuals, in turn forcing the team to fire shots in the air and scare the animal away.
A senior forest official on Tuesday had said that the nature of the terrain in the area, marked by thick, tall vegetation, and the presence of the other wild elephant had made things difficult for the dart team. While night patrolling will continue, the forest officials will continue the operation early on Thursday.
Assembly passes resolution
On Wednesday, the Kerala Assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging the Centre to amend wildlife protection laws in order to reduce casualties and crop-property loss due to man-animal conflict.
The resolution was moved in the House by forests and wildlife protection minister AK Saseendran and certain modifications were suggested to it by the opposition UDF legislators.
A modification to control the numbers of wild animals was accepted while others were rejected by the government.
The resolution moved by the minister spoke of giving powers to the chief conservator of forests to take immediate action in case of animal attacks or entry into human settlements. Another amendment the minister demanded in the central wildlife protection laws was to declare as vermin the wild boars that pose a threat to people living in the fringes of forests.
