Don’t shoot the tiger, it may not be man-eater, says Madras HC; Forest dept clarifies

The Forest department stated that there was no plan to kill the tiger and clarified that the ‘Hunting order’ was meant to capture it alive.

Chennai: The Madras High Court observed that the wild tiger dubbed ’MDT 23’ in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR), against which a ‘Hunting order’ was issued may not be a man-eater. Considering this possibility, the Court asked the Forest department to not take any immediate action to shoot and kill the tiger. Responding to the Court, the Forest department stated that there was no plan to kill the tiger and clarified that the ‘Hunting order’ was meant to capture it alive.

After an unsuccessful week-long search operation to capture the elusive tiger in Tamil Nadu’s Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, the Forest department issue a ‘Hunting Order’. The department had been facing immense pressure from those living in the vicinity of the Tiger reserve, as this predator is said to have killed livestock and also two persons. Animal rights activists had filed a Public Interest Litigation before the Madras High Court, expressing doubts over whether due procedure was followed by the Forest Department before issuing the hunting order.

The petitioners had mentioned that there was no scientific basis to establish the said tiger was a man-eater. They pointed out that the authorities could restrict the movement of public in the Mudumalai tiger reserve, while the Forest department could carry on with their search and capture activity.