Tiger gets caught in noose kept for foraging pigs, escapes

A tiger got caught in a noose meant to catch straying pigs near Kothagiri and freed itself after a five-hour struggle amid attempts to rescue it safely, forest officials said.

The residents of a village, 30 km from here, saw the big cat trying to free itself from the noose laid to trap pigs, which stray into the farm and destroy the crops, and informed the forest department, the officials said.

On information, veterinarians from Mudumalai Tiger Reserve and forest officials rushed to the spot, department sources said.

Though the veterinarians shot two darts on the tiger to tranquilise and rescue it, both missed the target, they said.

Even before another dart could be shot, the striped animal managed to come out of the noose and ran towards a nearby estate, the sources said.