Farmers and local residents of a forest village in Kerala's hilly Wayanad district have been living in fear of a tiger. On Sunday, they blocked a busy road in protest, displaying carcasses of cows that had been killed by the big cat.
Despite efforts by the Wildlife Department to cage the animal, the tiger killed two more cows owned by a farmer at Kenichira village in the early hours.
It had earlier killed two other cows in the hamlet.
Squatting on the busy road, the protestors raised slogans and demanded that the government authorities protect their lives and livelihoods.
They displayed the carcasses of dead cows in a vehicle.
They demanded immediate intervention of the Wildlife Department to tranquilise the tiger and capture it at the earliest. "The tiger should be shot dead. The Wildlife Protection Act should be amended incorporating timely changes," one of the protestors demanded.
A local resident expressed fear about sending their children to school and visiting nearby houses due to the constant presence of a large cat in the area.
During the protest, Forest Minister AK Saseendran instructed wildlife officials to take the required measures to capture the tiger.
Renu Raj, the Collector, mentioned that if the animal couldn't be confined, efforts would be made to apprehend it after administering tranquilisers.
An official statement quoted Renu Raj directing the Chief Wildlife Warden to authorise the capture promptly after completing necessary legal procedures.
Officials from the Wildlife Department went to the location and reassured the villagers that immediate steps would be taken to tranquilise the animal.
They said steps have already been initiated to bring rapid response team personnel to the area as part of the mission to capture the animal.
Forest authorities have also announced that farmers who lost cows in the tiger attack will receive an advance of Rs 30,000 as part of the solatium. They added that the remaining amount will be given to the farmers after the completion of post-mortem procedures on the cows' carcasses.
Meanwhile, the additional district magistrate has imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CRPC in some wards in nearby Poothadi village for two days in view of the mission to capture the tiger.
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