The tiger believed to be responsible for killing at least three women in the Corbett tiger reserve area was successfully tranquilised and captured by the Forest department on Wednesday. The male tiger estimated to be aged seven to eight years was tranquilised near the site where a woman was killed by the tiger on February 17.
The Corbett administration had stepped up efforts to capture the big cat after three incidents of human-wildlife conflict in the Dhela range. Camera traps and drones were used to identify and track the tiger responsible. Two trained elephants were also brought for the operation which started on Tuesday night and ended with the capture of the big cat on Wednesday morning. The tiger has been kept in the Dhela rescue centre where he is being monitored by the senior veterinary officer. Corbett director Dheeraj Pandey said that the tiger is estimated to be seven to eight years old. A DNA sample of the tiger has been taken and is being sent to the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology at Hyderabad for matching with the sample taken earlier.
It is pertinent to mention here that a tiger had killed Anita Devi on December 6 last year, Durga Devi on January 28 and Kala Devi on February 17- all in the Dhela range of Corbett.
