Nilgiris DFO Goutham and forest staff seeking evidence for carnivores who allegedly killed a member of the Tod Adivasi community, near Udhagamandalam | Photo Credit: M. Satyamoorty
The man Adivasi was killed and his remains partially consumed in a suspicion of attacking animals in Shole Governor near Udhagamandalam in the forest forest division on Wednesday, March 26, 2025).
The remains of a man identified as Kenthar Kuttan, a member of the Toda Adivasi community, were discovered in a wooded area by the locals on Thursday (27 March 2025). It is assumed that Kuttan went there to collect firewood.
The second incident in two weeks
This is the second reported instance that the person has been killed in Nilgiris in the last two weeks. At the beginning of this month, a 50 -year -old woman was killed in a suspicious leopard attack near the village of Arakad near the top of Doddabett.
Although the species of the animal responsible for the last attack still needs to be found, officials suspect that Kenthar Kuttan was killed either by leopard or tiger. S. Gowtham, a divisional forest officer (Nilgiris), said that hair samples were taken from the area of the analysis incident.
Camera terraces
The forest department also deployed the traps of cameras in the area in an effort to capture pictures of the animal. “We are also analyzing a database of potential carnivores who use the area in another attempt to identify the animal responsible for the attack,” said Mr. Gowtham.
Teams were also published in the area to monitor the movement of animals and prevent other negative interactions between people and wild animals. The locals demanded that the forest department to capture the responsible animal. They were provided with the assurance that measures were taken according to the protocol established.
This is the seventh recorded example of human death caused by carnivore in Nilgiris (Mudumalai, Gudalur and Nilgiris Divisis) since 2020. The protectors emphasized that the governor of Shola has attracted a lot of herbivores because of the presence of Thetetukklam Spimpyard nearby. This in turn attracts predators to the area and increases the chances of negative interactions with people.
In addition, there are concerns that the increase in the number of carnivores such as tigers and leopards in Nilgiris, combined with fragmentation of habitats, could lead to other such interactions if they are not mitigating steps.
Published – 27 March 2025 14:28
