Kerala’s Forest department has moved a team of wildlife enforcers, including trackers, armed personnel with tranquiliser guns and specially trained kumki elephants, to locate the tiger responsible for the fatal attack on Abdul Gafoor, a 50-year-old rubber tapper at Adakkalakundu plantation, near Kalikavu, in Malappuram district early on Thursday (May 15, 2025).
Forest veterinarian Arun Zachariah will lead the operation. The government has declared an alert in the locality and intensified patrolling by the police and the Forest department’s rapid response squads.
Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran stated that the government would release the first tranche of the ex gratia payment, estimated at ₹10 lakh, to the next of kin of Gafoor immediately. The government would also employ a family member temporarily, subject to later confirmation.
Mr. Saseendran said the Forest department has notified the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
The police and the Forest department have launched a joint investigation into the circumstances of the deadly tiger attack.
Forensic experts would soon conduct a post-mortem examination to determine Gafoor’s exact cause of death. Police and forest officials were collecting evidence from the scene, including pug marks and fur from the predator’s pelt, if any.
Mr. Saseendran said the government had formed a committee, including the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWC), an NTCA representative, a veterinarian, a local body representative, and an office-bearer of a local NGO, to examine whether the predator presents a clear and present danger to residents. If so, the CWC wields the mandate to declare the animal a “man-eater” and order its elimination if capture is impossible.
Published – May 15, 2025 12:16 pm IST
