COW KILLS TIGER IN TAMIL NADU

Onlanka News – By Walter Jayawardhana

There had been many reported incidents where the majestic tiger had been killed by animals of lesser stature especially when it comes to the saving of off springs. In addition to the motherly instinct in the incident reported  last Saturday  the ferocious tiger was already injured in an earlier fight in the forest with procupines.

A tiger, aged around 10, succumbed on Saturday near Valparai to the injuries it had sustained when it was attacked by a cow a few days ago, the Hindu reported.

“The incident happened at farmer Gananasekaran’s cattle shed. The officials said the tiger was wounded earlier and was unable to hunt. Looking for easy prey, it entered Periakadai in Urulikal Estate of the Monomboly forest range. The cow put up a stiff fight when its calf was under threat and it injured the tiger with its horns.

“On Friday, the tiger was spotted some distance away from the cattle shed in a badly injured condition. Forest Department officials tranquilised it and initiated efforts to save it. They had a tough time keeping curious onlookers away. For the people of Valparai it was a strange case of a tiger being wounded by a cow. The hill station and its tea estates had only known leopards killing human beings and cows.

“A post-mortem revealed that it had injuries on its paws and porcupine quills in its heart and intestine, suggesting that it was injured in a fight in the forests.

“Mudumalai Tiger Reserve Veterinarian Kalaivanan performed the post-mortem at the Manampalli Forest Range. Representatives from World Wildlife Fund, NGOs and media persons were present during the post-mortem. Xavier, Ranger Officer, Manampalli Range, was also there.

“The officials said that porcupine quills in the body had curtailed the tiger’s hunting abilities.”