"The tiger killed the calf near the safari in a 10km radius of Melkamanahalli village (in the jungle)... Its killing and eating an elephant calf is a good sign for knowing its whereabouts and helps us to search in the target area to capture it," state Chief Wildlife Warden Sanjay Mohan told on phone from the forest's fringes.
The man-eater, aged 4-6 years, has been at large since October 9 in the 872km Bandipur reserve in the state's Chamarajanagar district, about 220 km southwest of Bengaluru.
The search teams, comprising forest guards, vets and Soliga tribals, are of the view that the tiger is the same which killed two persons since September, after matching its stripes. Soligas, adept at hunting on bare foot, are from the Biligiri Ranganathaswamy temple wildlife sanctuary, about 170km southwest of Bengaluru.
Shivappa was the second victim of the big cat, which is said to have turned man-eater over a month ago after killing Shivamadaiah in its territory when he returning to his village with two bullocks from another nearby village.
The tiger has devoured 14 cattle during the last two months.
The state Forest Department had finally obtained a camera trap picture of the tiger early on Saturday.
The search operation is being conducted by the forest guards as per the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
On capture, the tiger will be shifted to Mysore rehabilitation centre, Mohan added.
( With inputs from IANS )