Tiger Eats Man Alive! Tribal Man Mauled to Death in Ooty Forest

A 41-year-old tribal man was tragically killed by a tiger in the forested hills of Ooty, Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris district, on Thursday, March 27, 2025, officials reported.

The victim, identified as Kendra Kuttan from the Thodar tribal community in Kollakode Mandi, was found partially devoured deep within the forest after a search operation launched by his family and forest authorities.

Kuttan, a cattle owner, had ventured into the woods near Governor’s Shola on Wednesday evening to locate a missing cow. When he failed to return by morning, his alarmed relatives alerted the Forest Department.

A joint team of tribal members and officials scoured the area, discovering his remains late Thursday. Preliminary findings suggest the tiger attacked him overnight, dragging his body into dense undergrowth.

The Nilgiris, encompassing Ooty, boasts India’s highest tiger population, with Tamil Nadu recording 306 tigers in the 2022 census, up from 264 in 2018. This lush, contiguous forest spanning Tamil Nadu and Kerala has seen its tiger numbers quadruple over two decades, a testament to conservation efforts since the 1970s.

However, such incidents highlight the growing human-wildlife conflict in the region. Forest officials have cordoned off the area and are monitoring tiger movements to prevent further attacks, as the community mourns the loss of one of its own in this rare but stark reminder of nature’s duality.