Tiger spotted near tourist location close to Udhagamandalam town

Tamil Nadu Forest Department monitors tiger near tourist area, urging caution and closing off the site to visitors.

The Tamil Nadu Forest Department is monitoring the movement of a tiger that was spotted near a popular tourist area, less than 10 km from Udhagamandalam town on Thursday (June 20, 2024) morning.

Videos captured using a mobile phone showed the animal attempting to cross the road, and doubling back when disturbed by people. Since the sighting of the animal, the tourism area has been closed to tourists as a precautionary measure.

Forest Department officials appealed to residents to stay calm and to not venture near the area. The animal is not known to have had any negative interactions with people or livestock in the area, in the two years that it has been spotted, officials confirmed.

When contacted, District Forest Officer (Nilgiris division), S. Gowtham, said that a tiger had been spotted regularly in the region for the past two years, with Forest Department officials strongly suspecting that it is the same animal that continues to use and permanently inhabit the area. “It is very much a resident animal and not simply passing through,” said Mr. Gowtham.

S.M. Sasikumar, Forest Range Officer (Udhagai South Range), said that teams of forest staff have been stationed in the area and surrounding waterbodies to track the animal. “We suspect that it was trying to cross the road when it was disturbed by people and went back where it came from. So we suspect it could try to cross again and we will continue to monitor the animal till it safely goes into a reserve forest and away from people,” said Mr. Sasikumar.