Forest officials in Karnataka's Bandipur are searching for the tiger (Representational)
An elusive man-eater tiger was caught on camera at Bandipur in Karnataka, said an official on Saturday. "One of the camera traps in Mel Kamanahalli captured the tiger earlier in the day," said Sanjay Mohan, a wildlife official.
The Bandipur tiger reserve, a popular tourist destination, is spread across 872 sqkm in Chamarajanagar district that borders Tamil Nadu. The forest is about 220 km southwest of Bengaluru.
The search teams are combing the area to capture the tiger, said to be hiding in the dense forest after claiming her second victim early this week. "We have sent elephant teams to dart the tiger. But they could not locate it," said Mr Mohan.
The officials, however, declined to share the tiger's camera trap picture with the media as a proof of its sighting.
The search team has also roped in Soliga tribals, who are adept at hunting on foot, from the Biligiri Ranganathaswamy temple wildlife sanctuary, about 170 km southwest of Bengaluru.
"Soligas are good at searching the big cat. They are good at following the trail left by leopards and tigers," Mr Mohan said.
Shivappa was the second victim of the big cat, which allegedly turned man-eater two months ago. It claimed its first victim, identified as Shivamadaiah, in the same area in mid-September when he was returning to his village with two bullocks from another village.
In two months, the tiger has eaten 14 cattle.