Amid recurring tiger attacks on cattle in the tea plantation areas of Devikulam and Munnar, the Forest department plans to direct plantation managements to ensure that livestock are brought into sheds early in the afternoon.

Tigers have been regularly preying on cattle across both forest ranges. According to Forest department officials, 34 cattle have been attacked under the Devikulam range in the past six months. However, plantation workers claim the real figure is close to 200 over the past year in both ranges.

Preventing overnight grazing

Officials noted that workers often leave cattle in the tea estates to graze, with many remaining there overnight. “Easy prey availability has led to tigers camping in the tea plantations,” a senior forest official said. “The Forest department has repeatedly asked plantation companies to limit cattle numbers and prevent overnight grazing, but these requests have not yet been addressed.” said the official.

Devikulam Range Officer E.D. Arunkumar confirmed the growing severity of the situation. “Allowing cattle in tea plantations at night attracts tigers,” Arunkumar said. “If we stop leaving cattle out overnight, we can significantly reduce these attacks. The department will ask plantation management to ensure cattle are brought back to the shed by 3 p.m. Bringing them in early also allows workers to identify missing livestock right away. Without support from estate managements, the department cannot resolve this issue,” he added.

According to officials, the unchecked growth of the cattle population on estates is the primary driver of the problem. Workers typically bring only milking cows into sheds at night, leaving the other cattle exposed in the fields. “The tigers find easy prey here,” the senior official said. “Another concern is that because prey is so easy to catch in these estates, tigers in Munnar and Devikulam lose the instinct to hunt wild prey.”

This behaviour was highlighted in April, when a tiger captured in Munnar after repeated attacks was relocated to Gavi in the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR). Within days, the big cat strayed into a tea plantation in Vandiperiyar to hunt cattle again. “The department has been making extensive efforts to capture or tranquilise the animal over the past two months, but it continues to evade search teams,” the official added.

Published - July 22, 2026 08:08 pm IST