Karnataka forest department staff locked up inside tiger trap cage by irate villagers in Bandipur buffer zone

In a bizarre incident, more than 10 frontline staff of the Forest Department were locked up inside a large cage meant to trap a tiger in Bommalapura village, located in the buffer zone of Bandipur Tiger Reserve, on Tuesday (September 9, 2025).

The cage had been placed by the department after villagers reported pug marks of a tiger near their fields. However, when the big cat did not fall into the trap and no further combing operations were taken up, angry villagers turned on the field staff.

The tiger was apparently sighted sometime ago in the field of a local farmer named Gangappa while there were also cattle kills reported from the area, which falls in the Gundlupet taluk of Chamarajanagar district.

The villagers alleged that the department was not making sincere efforts to capture the tiger and accused officials of relying only on the cage. “We had complained repeatedly, but no combing was carried out. Just placing a cage is not enough,” said a local farmer.

Irked by delayed response

The local villagers complained of a tiger sighting again on Tuesday (September 9) but were irked by the alleged delayed response from the forest department. When a team of 10 staff reached the village after a while, the agitated villagers gheraoed them and bundled them inside the cage meant for the tiger.

The incident has drawn sharp criticism from wildlife activists, who condemned the treatment meted out to the forest staff. They warned that such actions, if condoned by political leaders, would demoralise frontline personnel working in difficult conditions.

Senior forest officials are yet to react or issue a statement regarding the incident.