Tigress found dead

Udhgamandalam: A tigress was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Thengumaradah, about 60 kms from here, but it is being ruled out that the animal could be the man-eater which has been on the prowl killing three persons in the Nilgiris district this month.

The caracas of the tigress, aged about eight to nine years, was noticed by some villagers who informed the forest department officials.

Ruling out that the tigress could be the man-eater on prowl in Kundachappai and Kappachi villages, sources in the department said the viscera of the animal had been sent for test to Chennai to know the cause of the death. Meanwhile, the search was on to trap the man-eater in Kappachi and nearby villages.

Raman, one of the village and community heads, said tea leaves in nearly 6,000 acres remained un-plucked for the last fortnight as workers were afraid to come out. Plucking tea leaves is a major economic activity in the area. Factories in and around the district and also in Valparai in Coimbatore district had to do without tea leaves as about 20 lorries of leaves were usually sent daily to these places, Raman claimed.