Tourists fined Rs 1 lakh for illegal safari at Mudumalai Tiger Reserve

Forest department sources said that a team of department personnel comprising forest guards anti-poaching watchers were involved in night patrolling when they caught hold of the miscreants after some high drama. 

The team led by forest ranger S Selvaraj spotted a jeep going off road into the forest. The driver of the vehicle who noticed the forest department personnel tried to escape with the tourists and drove the vehicle in another direction into the forest. But the forest department personnel continued the chase. Though the jeep driver tried to evade, the vehicle fell into a ditch. Three of the tourists suffered minor injuries in the accident. 

They were given first aid in a private hospital at Masinagudi before the trio and their five other friends were taken to the Singara Range Office along with the vehicle owner S Eiriyan (23) of Masinagudi and driver S. Lokesh (22). The eight tourists were identified as S Dinesh (33), B Ganesh (28), M Saravanan (37), E Sathish Rao (27), S Subramanian (27), B Deepak Singh (24), A Sidharth (27) and K Aravind (22). 

Inquiry revealed that the tourists had come to The Nilgiris on a vacation. A fine of Rs 40,000 (Rs 5,000 each) was imposed on the tourists while a fine of Rs 60,000 (Rs 30,000 each) was imposed on the owner and driver of the vehicle. Senior forest department officials said this is the highest fine imposed for an illegal safari in the recent years.

This is the third such instance of forest officials catching hold of an illegal safari party in a month’s time. Stating that some local vehicle operators and resort owners were arranging such illegal trips and disturbing wildlife, they have made an appeal to tourists to contact the reception centre of MTR at Theppakadu for the legal elephant and van safaris organised by the department.

Two elephants suspected to be a mother and its calf were found dead at the Moyar Waterfalls in Segur Reserve Forest in The Nilgiris. It is suspected that they could have slipped and fallen off the rocks and landed more than 200 feet below on Saturday. Their carcass was spotted by anti-poaching watchers on Saturday afternoon and a team of forest officials visited the place. A forest veterinarian and officials climbed down the waterfalls and performed an autopsy. Vital organs were collected for testing.