A tiger mauled a farmer to death in Mysuru’s Saragur taluk on 31 October, the third such fatality in a month in Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah’s home district.
According to forest officials, the incident occurred in Koodagi village within the Moleyuru range of the Hediyala forest division. The victim, identified as Doddanningaiah, 53, was out grazing goats and sheep near his field when a tiger suddenly attacked him and dragged him into the forest.
Villagers nearby rushed to his aid, shouting to scare the animal away. They managed to recover Doddanningaiah’s body.
In Koodagi, families are now terrified to step outdoors.
This marks the third tiger-related death in Saragur taluk within a month. On 17 October, Mahadev, a 55-year-old farmer, was killed in Badagalapura village. A week later, on 26 October Rajashekar Murthy, 58, a cattle herder from Mullur village, was fatally mauled while grazing his livestock.
The cluster of attacks has heightened tension in villages like Hediyala, Nugu, and Saragur, areas in close proximity to the Bandipur Tiger Reserve that stretches across Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts.
Bandipur Tiger Reserve (wildtrails.in)
CM Siddaramaiah has pointed to human interference in forest zones as a major cause of conflict with wild animals.
“A large number of resorts are coming up in forest areas and the traffic of people, including safaris, is increasing. Due to shortage of water and fodder and the menace of tigers and leopards, wild animals are coming to the populated areas,” Siddaramaiah said on Monday.
He added that ministers had already held discussions on the matter and that a meeting under his chairmanship would follow.
“Legal action will be taken against those who are running resorts illegally. Instructions have also been given to reduce the number of safaris for tourists,” he said.
Most wildlife scientists and forest officials The Telegraph Online spoke to earlier agreed on one key factor, human interference is pushing tigers closer to villages. Human developments like tourist activities, safari operations, and construction projects erode the ecological buffer between humans and big cats.
Bandipur is not an exception. Resorts near protected forests across India have often been singled out for man-animal conflicts.
Madras High Court in October ordered appropriate action against all illegal resorts and tourist lodges functioning within the prohibited zone of Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) in Tamil Nadu’s Erode district and called for an action-taken report from the district administration as well as forest department officials within four weeks.
In Bengal last year, the forest department launched an eviction drive at Chilapata, Alipurduar, demolishing a private resort worth Rs 2 crore that was illegally built on reserve forest land in Jaldapara National Park.
Bengal tigers at Panna National Park(wikipedia)
In September, at the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, an IRS officer and his wife were reportedly accused of illegally building a homestay resort and running a sawmill inside the reserve.
