A farmer working at his field in Kerala's Wayanad was attacked by a tiger on Thursday, December 14. He later died following a cardiac arrest. According to the locals at Puthussery in Wayanad, the incident occurred around 9.30 am. Thomas alias Sallu (50) was rushed to the nearby Mananthavady hospital with deep injuries on his hands and legs.

While he was being moved to another hospital after receiving first aid, he suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away. The locals are up in arms and have expressed their anger against Forest Department officials, saying that this is the first such incident where a tiger has reached residential areas in their locality. Following a protest in the area, Forest officials have decided to capture the tiger using tranquilisers and a special team has been able to locate it. 

The last time someone was killed by a tiger attack in Wayanad was four years back. In the past decade, this is the 49th death recorded in the district in an attack by wild animals. Of the 49 deaths, 41 were on account of elephant attacks.

TNM had earlier talked to Dr Sridhar K, veterinary surgeon at Arignar Anna Zoological Park near Chennai in Tamil Nadu regarding tigers entering human settlements.  “What we know from existing ethology is that these animals usually avoid human settlements. Tigers are elusive. So if they do start killing human beings or visiting human settlements on the forest fringes, there are reasons for it,” he said. Sridhar had also added that tigers are highly territorial creatures and in the wild, they hunt and live within their territory. “While a tiger generally avoids human territory, in some cases they do visit villages and turn into man-eaters. Generally, these are older and weaker or injured big cats, who are driven out from their territory, and land up at the margins of human habitation looking for easy prey,” he stated.

With inputs from IANS.