Chorus began on social media in the morning in support of the T23 tiger which is allegedly haunting the people of Gudalur of Nilgiri district. People and animal rights activists started trending hashtags such as #SaveT23, #Tigerlivesmatters and #CAPTUREDONTKILL and urged the forest department officials to revoke the hunting orders.
“There couldn’t be a second opinion on the safety and security of people, but the killing of the tiger can be never a solution. I request the forest department to deploy all the latest technology to capture the tiger T-23 and rehabilitate it”, tweeted actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam party chief Kamal Haasan.
Meanwhile, an online writ petition was filed at the Madras High Court by a Delhi-based activist Sangeeta Dogra, that said: “It is stated human deaths are attributed to wild animals on presumptive and assumptive basis without following due process of law. Respondents have issued a Hunting order u/s 11(1)(a) of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 by constituting facts that Tiger(carnivore) is responsible for 25 killing Livestock (Herbivore) and Human Deaths.”
“There is 2008 Supreme Court order that villages adjacent to such wildlife sanctuaries should provide water and fodder for the livestock in the border of villages or increase the grazing area which is not near the jungle, it says that grazing is prohibited during the mating season, starting from July to November. I hope the court stays the hunting order” says Dogra.
“After shooting the tranquillizer, they need to monitor the health conditions including the pulse and other parameters for which they don’t have the equipment, it should be immediately transported to Chennai zoo or Mudumalai and taken care of once it’s neutralised, they should increase the expertise in all these fields,” says Chennai-based animal activist Muralidharan.
However, the forest department officials say that orders are not to kill it and it’s the last resort. “There is only order for hunting under the meaning of Wildlife Protection Act 1972 hunting is defined as capturing, trapping, tranquillizing, restraining and including killing. I have told the officer killing only as of the very last resort and only after all the efforts of capturing have finally failed,” said a top IFS officer.
Over 100 forest department personnel including a special task force and tracking experts with drones and sniffing dogs are in search of the T-23 tiger in the dense jungle terrain of Nilgiris currently.
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