Elusive tiger remains near Siddipet villages for second day

An elusive tiger continues to stay in a reserve forest near villages in Siddipet district, causing fear among residents. Forest officials and NTCA personnel are monitoring its movement, while attempts to tranquilise and relocate the animal have so far failed.

Hyderabad: Fear continues to prevail in the villages of Chinnakodur and Koheda mandals of Siddipet as the elusive tiger stays put in the scrub forest close to the human habitats for the second consecutive day.

The tiger moved into the reserve forest located close to Chowdaram village on Wednesday night. The reserve forest spread over 1200 hectares, with water reservoirs and tanks on two sides, is giving a safe shelter apart from presence of small animals in abundance, making it into a wild prey base for the tiger.

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The forest officials did not disturb the tiger on Saturday by deploying drones or moving around trying to track its movement. The forest officials had set up cages around the villages, anticipating the tiger might visit for a kill. However, the tiger did not turn up on Friday night.

The forest officials, along with animal trackers, veterinarians, and National Tiger Conservation Authority personnel, were monitoring the movement of the tiger. “It is somewhere resting in the hillocks. Fresh pugmarks were found at a few places outside the forest,” said an official.

The tiger had last killed cattle in the villages of Ghanpur and Arepalli on Sunday and there is no report of livestock killing by the tiger. There are apprehensions that it might move out of the forest in search of cattle, as it has been a week since it preyed upon cattle.

Meanwhile, the power department, the local police and community elders in the villages were put on alert. An official said the coordinated effort is to protect the tiger and also avoid human-animal conflict. “A round the clock surveillance is made around the forest to prevent any humans from entering the forest area,” said the official.

The forest department and veterinarians had planned to tranquilise the tiger and shift it to a safer place. However, their first attempt did not fructify on Thursday night.