Chennai: A male tiger trapped in Gudalur in the Nilgiris safely reached the Vandalur zoo early Saturday morning and has been placed in isolation, zoo officials said. The animal is in good health and remains active despite its ordeal, they added. The zoo’s tiger population has now risen to 28.The animal had killed two men in the O’Valley area of Gudalur. It was trapped in a cage in the early hours of Friday after a 29-day operation.Over the past four years, the Vandalur zoo has rehabilitated five conflict-involved tigers from Mudhumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in the Nilgiris and Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) in Pollachi, said zoo director Ritto Cyriac. The rescue centre at the zoo now has seven tigers in all, of which five are male, he said.Among them is a cub abandoned by its mother years ago. It was found suffering from porcupine quill injuries in its tooth. Rescuers nursed the cub back to health.Cyriac said the zoo had attempted tiger breeding programmes over the past couple of years, but the cubs did not survive due to poor parental care and in-breeding issues. To build a new gene pool, the zoo is now in the process of acquiring adult tigers from other zoos across the country that are willing to offer them under an exchange arrangement, he added.
