Elusive man-eater 'caught' on camera in Karnataka

The elusive man-eater tiger was 'caught' on a camera in the Bandipur Reserve Forest of Karnataka, said an official on Saturday.

"One of the camera traps in Mel Kamanahalli captured the tiger earlier in the day," Sanjay Mohan, a wildlife official, told on phone from the fringes of forest.

The wildlife official also shared the camera trap picture with to substantiate his claim of the sighting.

The Bandipur tiger reserve, a popular tourist destination, is spread across 872 sq km reserve forest in the Chamarajanagar district that borders Tamil Nadu. The forest is about 220 km southwest of Bengaluru.

The search teams are combing the area to capture the feline, said to be hiding in the dense forest after claiming its second victim early this week. "We have sent elephant teams to dart the tiger. But they could not locate it," said Mohan.

The search team has also roped in Soliga tribals, adept at hunting on foot, from the Biligiri Ranganathaswamy temple wildlife sanctuary, about 170km southwest of Bengaluru.

"Soligas are good at searching big cats and at following the trail left by leopards and tigers," Mohan said.

Shivappa was the second victim of the big cat, which allegedly turned man-eater two months ago. It claimed its first victim, identified as Shivamadaiah, in the same area in mid-September when he was returning to his village with two bullocks from another village.

In two months, the big cat has devoured 14 cattle.

( With inputs from IANS )