Give Science and Technology a chance- Lessons from the saga of the ‘Man-eater of Masinagudi’- MDT 23
MDT-23 at Mysuru Zoo rescue centre- Recuperating Prologue On the 29th July 2021, the International Tiger Day, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri.Narendra Modi declared thus: “… we reiterate our commitment to ensuring safe habitats for our tigers and nurturing tiger-friendly eco-systems ”. Ironically, only ten days before that clarion call, on the 19th July a tiger pounced and killed a tea estate worker in the far flung Gudalur area of the Nilgiris. As a retired forest administrator, I have attempted to piece together all the subsequent developments connected with this tiger, code named as MTR-23. Here is the story. Doesn’t it rhyme like the R.K.Narayan’s legendary “Man-eater of Malgudi”? Be it in reel life (recall Vidhya Balan fame Hindi film Sherni) or in real life, man-eating tigers of Indian jungles inspire awe and strike terror in every one’s mind. India occupies the pride of place by being home to 2,967 tigers in 2018, accounting for 70 per cent of world tigers’ in the wild