Student faints in shock after seeing tiger on way to college in Kodagu

A pre-university student in Karnataka's Kodagu district fainted when she spotted a tiger strolling out of a coffee estate towards her on Wednesday morning. Around 8 am in T Shettigeri village of the district, Tasma Dechamma was walking to her usual bus stop when she saw the big cat. She fainted at the sight of the tiger and suffered an injury on her head. The tiger walked away from the spot.

Tasma was given first aid at the Srimangala Primary Health Centre and doctors reported that she was recovering from the shock of seeing the tiger. She is a student at Ponnampet Government College in Kodagu district.

Local residents asked the Srimangala RFO Veerendra Kumar to drive the tiger from the coffee estate to the forest nearby. But even though Nagarhole Tiger Reserve officials conducted a search for the tiger, it was not found on Wednesday.

Speaking to TNM, Srimangala RFO Veerendra Mari Basavannanavar told TNM that the search was on for the tiger. "The tiger is currently near the coffee estate and has evaded our search team so far. The girl is recovering and is stable in the hospital. We (forest department) will be covering her medical expenses," Veerendra said.

He requested local residents to cooperate and said that a cage will be placed to capture the animal and release it in the forest. T Shettigeri is located 35 km from Virajpet in southern Kodagu. It is surrounded by thick forest areas.

The incident comes in a week when a leopard caused a scare in a residential society in Bengaluru's Bannerghatta. It was spotted in Prestige Song apartment building close to the Bannerghatta National Park area.