Residents protest over death of one person in ‘suspected’ tiger attack in Wayanad

Wayanad: Residents protested on Sunday in Kalpetta area here, where a 36-year-old man was found dead in an alleged attack by a tiger. The half-burnt body of Prajeesh, a resident of Wackeri, was found on Saturday near a forest area, where it was suspected that he was dragged by a tiger while he was collecting fodder for his cattle. Villagers claimed they were dealing with a “man-eater” tiger and demanded that officials shoot the animal. The Forest Conservation Chief has ordered to tranquilize the animal for encroachment. At present two teams of forest officials are searching for the animal. Meanwhile, villagers told the media that the animal eats humans, or that it returned on Saturday night to the same spot where Prajeesh’s body was found earlier. “It is a man-eating tiger. There were hundreds of people roaming in the area where his body was found. But today we can see his footprints. As neighbours, we need to shoot and kill this man-eating tiger.” a local resident told a television channel. When Prajeesh did not return even after several hours on Saturday, his brother searched and found his body in a nearby forest area. The villagers, led by political leaders including MLA I C Balakrishnan, former MLA C K Saseendran, organized a protest demanding declaring the tiger as a man-eater and shot him dead. Meanwhile, a senior forest official told PTI that, as per his report, there are three tigers in the area. “However, the tiger responsible for the death has not been identified yet. We only have a blurry picture. Hopefully the government will take a decision soon,” the official said. Earlier this year, a 50-year-old man lost his life in a tiger attack. In August 2017, the Government of Kerala informed the Assembly that, according to the tiger census conducted in the Periyar and Parambikulam tiger reserves in the state, the presence of 58 big cats was confirmed in these reserves in 2016.