Tiger MDT 23 kept in kraal at Mysore Zoo rescue centre, health improving

Chennai, Oct 20 Tiger MDT 23, which was captured after a 22-day search in the forests of Gudalur and Masinagudi in Tamil Nadu's Nilgiris district, was on Wednesday put in day kraal at Mysore Zoo rescue centre, officials said.

This is to enable the animal to relax in a private space away from the visitors, officials said.

Veterinar treating the tiger said that its injuries are healing well.

After it was captured, the tiger was kept in an enclosure at the Mysore animal rescue centre till Wednesday, and the kraal - a fenced open enclosure with lush green shrubs and trees - provides it a private space to roam around.

Talking to media persons, Tamil Nadu's Chief Wildlife Warden Shekar Kumar Niraj said: "The tiger is aggressive on seeing a doctor and has tried to break the wire mesh of its enclosure by biting and has lost one of its canine teeth. This has been recorded and preserved."

He said that the health of the animal is improving.

Veterinar said that the tiger is administered antibiotics and its swollen foot is getting better and that the animal has passed faeces which is normal.

The Mysore Zoo rescue centre, in a statement, said that the tiger ate 8 kg of meat and that its blood haemoglobin levels are improving and that it has gone above 9 for the first time.

The tiger, according to veterinar, has been administered injections through blow darts or jab sticks and no sedation was given. The doctors also said that the serum levels of the tiger showed slight signs of liver inflammation.

The MDT 23 tiger has reportedly killed four human beings and 12 heads of cattle including cows and goats. The Tamil Nadu Forest Department had ordered "hunting down" of the animal but the Madras High Court had ordered it to capture the tiger alive, on a petition by the animal rights organisation, People for Cattle in India (PFCI).