UDHAGAMANDALAM: A tiger that is suspected to have preyed on livestock in and around O-Valley near Gudalur in the Nilgiris in the past few weeks was on Thursday found trapped in a cage set up by the forest department. The tiger, aged around 13 years, was trapped a month after another tiger, which is suspected to have killed two men, had been trapped in the same area by the forest department.Forest department personnel tied a goat inside the cage to lure the tiger that killed livestock. The tiger was found lying inside the cage in a semi-conscious state on Thursday morning. A forest department staff member wearing protective gear approached the animal, but it remained in the same condition. The tiger was subsequently shifted to a smaller cage for transportation.Gudalur forest range officer P Devaraj said the big cat was caught in their camera traps a couple of times in the last few weeks. “Deep wounds were found on its face. The animal looked very tired. Generally, wounds caused by infighting would heal. But this 13-year-old tiger was found to be very tired. We are planning to shift it to Vandalur zoo in Chennai. Once an official order is issued, it will be moved,” he said.On Sept 18, the forest department trapped a tiger that is suspected to have killed two men. The animal was captured following a 29-day search operation. It was later shifted to Vandalur zoo.
