In a great instance of the hunter turning hunted, a man was gutted to death by an Indian Gaur (Bison) as he opened fire at the animal. The episode occurred inside the Kurangani forest in the Theni District of Tamilnadu, close to the state’s outskirts with Kerala.

Three men, recognized as Shaju, Mariappan, and Rajesh, all inhabitants of the Idukki area in Kerala, had entered into the Bodi Reserve Forest for an illicit chase on Sunday. Inside the forest, they ran over a group of Indian Gaurs, and Mariappan opened fire at one of them.

After sitting tight for quite a while, Mariappan moved toward the fallen creature to check if it had died of gunshot wounds. Be that as it may, to the stun of the hunter’s group, the Gaur propelled itself on to the tracker, leaving him severely wounded. The two other people at first fled the scene subsequent after seeing their companion being stomped on by the Bison. They came back to the spot after the Gaur had proceeded to take Mariappan to an emergency clinic in Theni and later to the Theni Medical College, where he was announced dead on arrival.

Mariappan’s associates had told the doctors that he had tumbled from a tree, yet the surgeons who became suspicious called the Theni Police. When police showed up, the couple had fled to Kerala. The cops in Theni then approached their partners in Kerala, and the two men were captured from their homes on Monday.

Illicit arms, including country-made rifles, were recovered from the two charged. Upon cross-examination, the two captured men have acknowledged that they had trespassed inside the Kurangini woods and that Mariappan was murdered by the Bison.

Kurangini forest was in the news for an incident in March 2018 after 23 individuals were charred to death in an out of control fire there. They were two unapproved trekking group who had gone inside the backwoods without the information on the forest authorities and had stayed outdoors there in the night. Following the fire incident, the Tamil Nadu government had prohibited all trekking exercises in the state between February 15 to April 15.

Buffalo is the biggest species among the wild cows, arriving at shoulder tallness of up to 2.2 meters and can weigh around 600 kg to 1500 kg. The monster is likewise known for being excessively agile for its enormous built and can run at paces of 56 km/h.

Because of territory loss and huntings, Indian Bison is recorded as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

It is listed in the Schedule I of the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972, which implies that the creature is given complete protection. The detainment for chasing a buffalo is three years, which may stretch out to seven years, with a base fine of Rs. 10,000.