Three anti-poaching watchers (APWs) from the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) were felicitated by the Forest Department recently for their commendable work during the operation to successfully tranquilise and capture MDT23, a tiger that is believed to have killed four people in the fringes of MTR and Gudalur.
The three APWs, Kaalan, Maathan and Bomman, three expert trackers in the division had played an instrumental role in helping to track down the tiger and helping to capture it safely, officials said. All of them belong to Adivasi communities, and have a great reputation for tracking down wildlife during multiple operations.
The tiger, MDT23, was captured after a massive 22-day-long operation which involved over a 100 forest staff. “All the forest staff involved in the operation had done extremely important tasks, including managing crowds, preventing people from straying into the operation area and also collecting intelligence to narrow down the search area,” said a top forest official.
The APWs, who are temporary staff employed by the department were given certificates for their exemplary work during the operation. They were nominated for the recognition by the Principal Secretary (Environment, Climate Change and Forests) for Tamil Nadu, Supriya Sahu.
The certificates were handed over to them by Bhosale Sachin Thukkaram, Deputy Director of MTR (Core Area), who appreciated the work done by the APWs and all the forest staff during the entire operation.
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