How a Calvin Klein scent is set to trap a killer cougar

A tiger drinks at a watering hole at Ranthambore National Park in northern India. Photo / AP

Indian wildlife officials have been hunting a female tiger blamed for the deaths of 13 people over two years.

Now in their desperation they have turned to an unusual but alluring bait: the Calvin Klein scent Obsession.

The New York Times reports that T1, a 5-year-old, is believed to be behind the slayings of villagers in Pandharkawada, central India.

Efforts to capture her have so far failed. The authorities have tried to track and tranqulise her using camera traps, hunters, elephants and a drone.

"Our worry is that T1 is completely elusive and is not even approaching the bait it has killed," Chief Forest Conservator A K Misra said, the Daily Telegraph reports.

A debate over whether the animal should be trapped or killed has made its way to the Supreme Court, which ruled that should capture prove difficult, the animal should be destroyed.

Officials are pinning their hopes on the Calvin Klein fragrance and two special Italian sniffer dogs.

Obsession contains civetone, a synthetic smell derived from the civet species known to drive big cats wild.

"I know, it's really funny," forest official Sunil Limaye told the New York Times. "But what are we going to do?"

The power of Obsession to lure big cats was first established by experiments at Bronx Zoo in 2003, the Guardian reports.

It says Obsession has been used to catch at least two other tigers in India.

The perfume was first used in the country by HS Prayag, a veterinarian and former zookeeper.

Chanel No 5 was also known to work, he said, "but because it is costly I use CK Obsession".