The presence of a big cat and its cubs in a human habitat at Vakery, near Meenangadi, under the South Wayanad Forest Division, has triggered panic among the local people.
The villagers had heard screams of a deer on Wednesday midnight from a plantation near Vakery town, and in the search that followed on Thursday morning, they found the tigress and its cubs. A partially consumed carcass of a spotted deer was also found.
Later, Forest officials reached the spot and confirmed the predators’ presence.
“We are planning to drive them back to the Irulam forest, nearly a kilometre away from the coffee plantations, South Wayanad Forest Divisional Officer Shajana Kareem said.
The Rapid Response Team of the Forest Department and a police team from Kenichra station will join hands for the task scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., Ms. Kareem said.
The department has deployed personnel in many parts of the area, she added.
