Big cat movement witnessed in core of Kawal Tiger Reserve after a gap of two years

Officials of the forest department said that the reserve has a rich prey base and is conducive for the living of tigers.

Mancherial: A tiger has finally entered the core of Kawal Tiger Reserve (KTR), ending a two-year long wait for a tiger in the forest and cheering officials of the Forest department.

“A tiger has set its foot in the core of KTR after a gap of nearly two years. It has been moving in different beats of Jannaram division for the last few days. Its pugmarks were recorded in a beat. Its movement is being tracked by animal trackers,” District Forest Officer Shiv Aasheesh Singh told ‘Telangana Today.’

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Officials of the forest department said that the reserve has a rich prey base and is conducive for the living of tigers. They stated that CCTV camera traps were installed to record and trail the big cat. They noted that efforts were being made to ensure safety of the tiger and smooth passage for it in the reserve.

The officials further said that awareness was being created among dwellers of forest fringe villages about the presence of the tiger. They requested the dwellers not to harm the tiger since it was a shy animal. They urged the residents not to trust rumors if spread on social media platforms. They added that compensation would be immediately extended if a tiger kills cattle.

This tiger, named S-12, initially stayed in the forests of Kaghaznagar division for about three months recently. It crossed the busy national highway 363 in Asifabad mandal and was sighted near opencast mining projects of SCCL at Kairiguda village in Rebbena mandal. It then drifted into forests of Tiryani mandal from where it strayed into the core of the reserve.

The 42nd reserve of the country was created in 2012. The core of the reserve spreads in 893 sq km, the buffer zone spans 1,120 sq km. The reserve registered poaching of two tigers in 2018. No tiger has resided in the reserve since then. However, a migrant tiger stayed in Kaddampeddur range for a brief period in 2022.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority in the Status of Tigers report for 2022 pointed out that no tigers were detected in the reserve except for a few ones in Kaghaznagar forest division.