Woman injured in tiger attack in Mysuru district, say officials

The tiger pounced on Sivamallamma (36), when she was engaged in farm work with her husband Lokesh Naik

A woman suffered injuries when a tiger attacked her on Wednesday while she was working in an agricultural field in Hallare village of Nanjangudu taluk in Mysuru district, forest officials said, an incident that has raised concerns about the presence of the big cat in the area.

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The tiger pounced on Sivamallamma (36), when she was engaged in farm work with her husband Lokesh Naik. Showing courage, Naik raised an alarm, rescued his injured wife, and shifted her to a hospital, officials said.

“After receiving the information at 4 pm on Wednesday, we rushed to the spot and conducted an inspection,” said Mysuru chief conservator of forests (CCF) Malathi Priya. “Although we did not find pugmarks of a tiger, we found marks of a leopard, and the injuries indicated they were inflicted by a tiger. However, we have installed trap cameras in nearby areas and set up a cage. We are investigating the incident and will capture the animal,” she said.

The injured Shivamma is being treated at KR Hospital in Mysuru and is out of danger, officials said.

This incident follows a recent tiger attack in the Hediala area in which a woman died. On November 24, Rathnamma (52) was killed by a tiger while she was working in a field. Villagers said they now fear to go to the fields. Villagers criticised forest department officials’ failure in capturing the elusive tiger.

Officials have assured swift action, pledging to capture and cage the tiger at the earliest.

In November last year, the forest department successfully captured a tiger that had attacked women and cattle in the Hediala forest range area. The operation involved the efforts of 207 people, including forest department personnel, and used over 50 cameras, including drone cameras, to monitor the tiger’s movements. The captured tiger was relocated to an animal rehabilitation centre in Koorgalli, Mysuru.

Leopard and tiger attacks have been increasingly reported in the Mysore region, prompting concerned villagers to call for effective measures to address the growing human-wildlife conflict.