Lakhimpur Kheri, Jul 1 (IANS): Forest officials have captured a tigress, said to be responsible for recent human killings in Khairatiya area in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district.

This comes a day after another big cat was captured in the area.

The tigress was caught in the Manjhra Purab forest area of the Dudhwa buffer zone.

Four human killings by the big cat were reported in June alone in the area and there were at least two others in May.

Divisional forest officer (DFO), Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, Akash Deep Badhawan said most probably the tigress would be sent to Gorakhpur Zoo as the Lucknow Zoo is full to its capacity.

Field director (Dudhwa Tiger Reserve) Sanjay Pathak said: "During physical examination, the tigress was found to be nine years old. Her physical condition and age were enough to establish her to have caused the recent human casualties in the Khairatiya region. Her left canines were broken and damaged due to which she may be unable to hunt properly and this made her attack humans."

Tigers turn into man-eaters when they fail to kill wild prey due to any deformity or injury like broken canines, injured paws and old age, he informed.

Pathank said that some other big cats had been noticed in the area and recorded on cameras also and the operation would continue till the entire area was freed of big cat-terror.

"The operation will be suspended only after being assured that there is no longer a threat to human population due to tigers," he said.

Meanwhile, the big cat captured on Tuesday night, has been found to be in good health.