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Neelagiri Kaduva
The Neelagiri Kaduva (Neelagiri Tiger) is a Critically Endangered Species, somewhat similar in size and shape to a tiger, but with a face similar to that of a dog, claimed to have been discovered in the dense forests of South India in 2014.
Description[]
The Neelagiri Kaduva is reddish brown in colour, with faded black stripes. It has a pug mark size of 12 cm. (a leopard will have a maximum of 9 cm pug mark). Dogs are the primary prey. This predator is well known to villagers living near forests, as well as various Tribal Groups, who call it by the colloquial names like "Patti Kaduva, Patti Puli, Nari" etc. But not much attention was paid earlier as it was very difficult to get a picture of this immensely stealthy species.
Discovery[]
The Neelagiri Kaduva was discovered by a scientist and conservation biologist, Dijo Thomas, who searched for this highly elusive predator for 12 years, before discovering it in Neyyar Dam in 2014, during a month long series of attacks on domestic animals. Numerous confirmations have been made by local officials of the Kerala Forest Department in the media, when the pug marks the size of a tiger's are left in villages during night time, where attacks on dogs, goats, chickens etc. have taken place. The pug marks, though the size of a tiger's, have many differentiating features, the main one being that the claws are non-retractable.
According to Dijo Thomas, the Neelagiri Kaduva is the common ancestor of felines and canids. It almost looks like a tiger, but astonishingly has the face of a dog. At the same time, many of the behaviour patterns correspond to a tiger's, including it being a lone hunter. Dijo Thomas presented 2 Scientific Papers on the Neelagiri Kaduva and the F3B-NSPM Method for the same; at the 103rd Indian Science Congress, held at the University of Mysore on 7 January 2016.
He also presented 2 Updated Scientific Papers at the 104th Indian Science Congress, held at SV University, Tirupathi in January 2017.
Sightings[]
Dijo Thomas claims that he has spoken with more than 350 eyewitnesses in three states in South India, many of them have seen it during live attacks in villages! Some of the eyewitnesses saw it during daytime and some at close quarters. He has published a few of the eyewitness accounts on his YouTube channels, for academic purposes.
Incidentally, Dijo Thomas is the person who discovered some other rare species, including Raktha Athika - the Indian Chupacabra, the Ukrainian Chupacabra, the Neelagiri Cheruvan (the Pogeyan of the BBC documentary "Mountains of the Monsoon") etc. Getting a photo of a Neelagiri Kaduva is said to be extremely difficult due to their lesser numbers, highly migratory nature, nocturnal behaviour, shyness of humans and above all their highly stealthy nature!
A DNA test was done on the cub of a Neelagiri Kaduva obtained in 2014, but was sabotaged by the Kerala Forest Department, and they have not published the results to date.
Wildlife conservationists, who know the Indian system, say that it is due to professional jealousy, political considerations, compensation to be given to the villagers, once the government acknowledges the species etc. that the Forest Department and the government are not acknowledging the existence of this highly rare species.
The first video evidence was obtained in 2021 in Kilimanur in Trivandrum district of Kerala, India; where the attacks of a sub-adult Neelagiri Kaduva were going on for about 3 weeks; when its CCTV footage was obtained in a shop where it killed some poultry. You can see the CCTV footage of the Neelagiri Kaduva in a documentary. It was also widely reported in various Malayalam news channels at that time. Dijo Thomas says that it is a sub-adult Neelagiri Kaduva.
Interestingly, in the CCTV footage, you can see the video of a wild animal, very different from any known species. It looks somewhat like a leopard, but leaner and taller! This CCTV footage was obtained in Kilimannor in Trivandrum on 14 March 2021.
You can see the CCTV footage here:
https://youtu.be/Gej4gl-3cZA?si=9OjK4BiD91H27uFs
References:[]
- Deccan Chronicle News Paper . 26 Sep 2018. https://media-reports-wildlife.blogspot.com/2022/11/blog-post.html
- Indian Express News Paper Report on 13 November 2018. https://media-reports-wildlife.blogspot.com/2022/08/report-in-major-news-paper-in-india.html
- Dina Thanthi News Paper Report on 07 July 2022. Tamil Nadu State . https://media-reports-wildlife.blogspot.com/2022/11/todays-news-paper-report-in-daily.html
- Mathrubhumi News Paper Report, 19 Oct 21. Kerala State . https://media-reports-wildlife.blogspot.com/2022/11/report-in-mathrubhumi-news-paper-on.html
- Report on Neelagiri Kaduva (Neelagiri Tiger) in Rajasthan Patrika News Paper, North India, Language : Hindi. 13 Dec 2019 . https://media-reports-wildlife.blogspot.com/2022/11/report-on-discovery-of-neelagiri-kaduva.html .