Udhagamandalam

ForestDepartment officials trapped a male tiger in a cage set up at Gudalur in Nilgiris district on Thursday morning, weeks after another tiger responsible for human attacks in the region was captured.

The operation follows a series of terrifying incidents that began on August 9 and 21, when a tiger attacked and claimed the lives of two people in the O’Valley-Lauriston region near Gudalur, forest officials said.

Enraged by the fatal attacks, locals staged massive protests demanding the immediate capture of the man-eater.Yielding to public pressure, the Forest Department deployed traps, successfully capturing the tiger on September 18 and subsequently transferring it to the Vandalur Zoo.

However, recent sightings sounded alarm bells and the forest personnel spotted another tiger roaming the Silver Cloud and O’Valley areas bearing visible injuries, prompting renewed surveillance.

Authorities immediately intensified monitoring operations across the Mudumalai, Gudalur, and O’Valley belts, deploying cages at strategic locations.Their efforts paid off when the injured animal walked into the trap set near the Halalla area close to Silver Cloud in the early hours.Forest officials stated that further course of action regarding the captured tiger will be decided on strictly following directives from senior forest department officials.