Man hurt in tiger attack

The Forest Department officials on Saturday intensified the search for a strayed tiger which attacked a man at Kattayad, near here, on Saturday morning.

The victim, Choman, a resident of the Kattayad Paniya colony, suffered severe injuries on his back and legs. According to local people, upon sighting the tiger, Choman climbed a tree in a bid to escape, but was pulled down by the animal.

After first aid treatment at the Taluk Hospital in Sulthan Bathery, he was shifted to the Kozhikode Medical College. His condition is said to be stable. The incident took place at 10am when Choman was on his way back home after dropping his kids off at anganwadi.

The big cat escaped into a nearby plantation after a group of people working in the plantation rushed to the spot when they heard the man’s cry for help.

Though stray tigers have been on a cattle-killing spree in the district, this is the first attack on humans in the recent past.

Meanwhile, a cow was killed and a bull was attacked by a tiger at Irumbupalam under the Begur Forest Range, near Mananthavady, on Saturday afternoon.

According to Forest officials, the cattle, owned by Ramakrishnan, were grazing in a paddy field adjacent to the reserve forest area when the attack occurred.

 A team of Forest officials and a veterinary surgeon, led by Deputy Range Officer K Baburaj, reached the spot and conducted a postmortem examination and assured the cattle owner of a compensation based on the autopsy report.