Mysuru: A day after a tiger cub strayed from a forest and created panic among residents in a border village at Heggadadevana Kote taluk, forest officials are claiming that the cub has returned to its home — the woods.Vet D N Nagaraj told TOI that since they did not sight the cub during the daylong operation to drive it back into the forest, they have come to the conclusion that it may have gone back in the same direction that it had come based on the pugmarks found near Taraka canal."We started the operation as early as 6am with nearly 150 forest personnel and two tamed elephants — Abhimanyu and Krishna. The combing operation commenced from a private banana plantation field, where it was sighted by Naganahalli villagers. The operation ended near the canal around 5.30pm. Its pugmarks were found up to the canal in the return direction," the vet said, and added that they did not sight the cub during the 12-hour operation.A woman plucking jasmine flowers in the adjoining tender coconut grove first sighted the tiger on Sunday, and alerted villagers. Before the information could reach the forest officials, the news spread like a wildfire, and left people in the region panic-stricken.Initially, it was believed that the animal could be a leopard, but an image confirmed that it was a tiger.The tiger cub, aged about 15 months, may have got separated from its mother. It came to the village on Saturday night, only to return to the forest the next evening. Naganahalli is located nearly 5km from Nagarahole National Park boundary. Since the cub was frightened, it may have lost its way and come out of the forest. Tigers usually travel up to 10-15km in the night, Nagaraj stated.Though officials have told the villagers that the tiger has returned, the latter are still in fear. The tiger had hid inside thick parthenium plants close to a banana plantation when it was sighted by the villagers early on Sunday.Officials have advised the villagers not to venture out alone as a precaution.

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