Tiger that killed man in Malappuram caught after 53-day long search

Malappuram (Kerala) | The tiger, which killed a rubber-tapping worker near Kalikavu here nearly two months ago, was on Sunday trapped in one of the several cages set-up around the area where the incident occurred, the forest department said.

However, when the forest department officials tried to take away the caged tiger, a massive crowd of local residents gathered in the area and prevented them from removing the feline, according to visuals on TV channels.

Locals told reporters that they were concerned that the tiger would be released in the same area and would again pose a risk to their lives.

They later permitted the tiger to be taken away after officials assured them that the feline was not likely to be released in the area.

Forest Minister A K Saseendran told reporters that for now the tiger will be kept in the custody of the Forest department.

"Thereafter, an expert-level discussion will be held to decide whether it should be released into the deep forest or relocated to a shelter for wild animals," the minister said.

A senior forest official said that the tiger was around 13-years-old and therefore, the likelihood of it being released back into the forest was less.

Earlier in the morning, the official said that intensive search operations involving three separate 20-member rapid response teams with tranquilisers and a veterinarian each had been carried out in the forests around Kalikavu since May 15 for the feline.

It got trapped in one of the cages in the wee hours of Sunday, the official said.

The tiger was identified in May as one from the Silent Valley National Park based on its image captured by one of the camera traps set up in the area.

Besides camera traps and thermal camera drones, the department had also deployed kumki elephants (trained captive tuskers) to look for the tiger.

On May 15, 45-year-old Gafoor was attacked and dragged into the forest by the tiger when he and a friend were going for rubber-tapping work.