Chennai, Oct 5 (IANS): The first Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the state forest department not to go for the kill of the elusive MDT23 tiger immediately. The court was responding to a Public Interest Litigation filed by an animal rights group, People for Cattle in India (PFCI).

The animal rights body had moved the PIL after the Chief Wildlife Warden of the Tamil Nadu forest department Shekar Kumar Neeraj had ordered hunting down and killing of the MDT23 tiger in the Gudalure forest area of Tamil Nadu.

The court agreed to the plea of the animal rights body that the tiger may not be a 'Man-eater' at all and hence directed the forest department to tranquilize and capture the big cat instead of killing it.

The Chief WildLife warden has ordered the kill after local people had complained of the tiger killing four humans and 12 cattle in the past few months.

Five teams of forest personnel drawn from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka are in the hunt of the tiger for the past nine days, and on Saturday the Chief Wildlife warden ordered to kill the tiger. The search is being spread to the Masinagudi and Singara areas after villagers have alerted the department that the tiger was spotted in Singara.

Forest department officials have told IANS that the tiger would be weak as it had not taken prey since the past few days. Drones, sniffer dogs, and kumki elephants have been pressed into the service to trace and hunt down the tiger but it has remained elusive.

The Chief WildLife Warden, Tamil Nadu forests, Shekar Kumar Neeraj who had ordered the killing of the tiger is also participating in the tiger hunt riding a kumki elephant.

Heavy rains and fog have prevented the forest personal proper visibility and even drones that have been not able to track the tiger.