Eight killed in tiger attacks over past decade; fear grips Wayanad villages
Mananthavady: “There’s fear both at night and in the morning to even step into the yard. We can never tell when a wild bison might appear. Plucking tea leaves is our livelihood, but how can we work peacefully in this situation? We live in constant fear of tigers, elephants and wild bisons,” said Elsie, an estate worker who was among the first to rush to the scene carrying a neighbour’s infant after learning that Radha had been killed by a tiger. “What safety do we really have for our lives?” she asked—a question for which no one had a clear answer.
Another estate worker Leela shared that it was common for domestic dogs to go missing every day. “Every day, dogs from one area or another vanish. What peace do we have here? It’s only after someone dies that everyone rushes to the scene. We’ve been facing these problems for years,” said Leela.
Many who gathered while working in the tea fields could not hold back their tears. Residents of Pilakavu at Pancharakolly, Maniyankunnu and Chirakkara along with nearby areas have been enduring the menace of wild elephants, bisons and tigers for years.
People living near forested areas have no other option but to traverse through the forest to reach their homes. It was along one such regular path that Radha was travelling when she encountered the tiger, just about 300 metres away from her destination.
In May last year, a tiger attacked and killed a calf in Chirakkara. The eight-month-old calf belonged to A P Abdul Rahman of Athikaparambu in Chirakkara. Although forest officials set up a trap to capture the tiger and waited for days, their efforts were unsuccessful, and the operation was later abandoned.
In October 2022, a tiger was captured in Kalliyodu, not far from Pancharakolly. The four-year-old tiger was tranquilised by a team led by Forest Senior Veterinary Surgeon Dr Arun Zacharia. The tiger, which had a severe injury on its foreleg, was captured near the Kalliyodu Muslim mosque along the Mananthavady-Jessy-Pilakavu road. It was first given initial treatment at the NTFP Processing and Training Centre in Ambukuthi, under the Forest Department. Later, it was transferred to the Animal Hospice Centre and
Palliative Care Unit at Puthanpally in Sultan Bathery.
With the confirmation of a tiger’s presence at Pancharakolly, residents of nearby areas such as Thalappuzha, Chirakkara, Thrissileri, Kalliyotukunnu and Pilakavu are living in fear.
Tiger attacks claim 8 lives in the last decade
- Bhaskaran (56), Sundarath, Mookkuthikkunnu, Noolpuzha Panchayat – February 10, 2015
- Baburaj (23), Kurichiyad forest village – July 2015
- Basavan (44), Forest Department watcher, Kakkeri Colony, Tholpetty Range – November 2015
- Jadayyan (Masti-60), Katunayakan Colony, Sultan Bathery – December 24, 2019
- Shivakumar (24), Basavankolli, Katunayakan Colony, Pulpally – June 16, 2020
- Thomas (Salu-50), Pallippuram, Vellarankunnu, Puthusheri – January 12, 2023
- Prajeesh (36), Marottiparambu, Moodakolli, Poothadi – December 9, 2023
Elephant attacks claim several lives within a year
- Lakshmanan (50), estate worker, Bargiri Estate, Tholpetty, Thirunelli – January 31, 2024
- Ajeesh (Aji-47), Panachyil, Chaligadda, Payyampally – February 10, 2024
- Paul, Forest conservation committee worker, Thirumukham, Pulpally – February 16, 2024
- Raju (49), Kallumukku, Kalloor, Sultan Bathery – July 16, 2024
- Vishnu (22), migrant from Karnataka, Chekadi, Pulpally – January 8, 2025