Forest department to procure thermal drones to detected Tiger movements

Panic spread in many villages of Adilabad, Asifabad, Mulugu and other areas as locals spotted tigers crossing the roads, moving in the fields and even attacking the cattle.

Hyderabad: With movement of tigers increasing in different areas, especially in northern Telangana, the forest department is procuring two thermal drones to detect their movements and alert local villagers accordingly.

Panic spread in many villages of Adilabad, Asifabad, Mulugu and other areas as locals spotted tigers crossing the roads, moving in the fields and even attacking the cattle. A tiger was spotted three kms away from Sirpur mandal under Kumaram Bheem Asifabad limits and close to Chandrapur limits in Maharashtra. Likewise, people had spotted tigers in Kagaznagar limits also.

At present, a thermal drone is being stationed in Asifabad to track the tiger movement and initiate safety measures. The thermal drone, which can be operated during night time as well, was borrowed from Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad. It was used extensively in April this year, when elephants migrating from Maharashtra border created havoc in Telangana villages.

Now, with increasing incidents of tigers moving in the fields and close to human habitations, the forest department is procuring two thermal drones. Already, orders have been placed and they would be made available to the field officers Amrabad and Kawal Tiger Reserves by February end or March. Each one costs about Rs.20 lakh, said a senior official from the department.

They would be stationed in Hyderabad. Based on the necessity of the field officers, they would be deployed in the respective locations, he said.

Regarding tigers migration from Maharashtra, the official admitted that about seven to eight of them were spotted during the last few days in different areas of Adilabad, Asifabad, Mulugu and other places.

All the Standard Operation Procedures prescribed by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) were being followed. Field officers were constantly coordinating with their counterparts in Maharashtra on the tiger movements. The names and identities of the tigers were being checked and confirmed by officials from both the States to make sure tigers were safe and any untoward incidents were avoided.

This apart, range wise coordination was being taken up by the officials to ensure safety of villagers and alerts were also being issued accordingly, he said.

Movement from Chattisgarh

This season, the officials are worried about the movement of tigers from Indravati reserve from Chattisgarh border. They were spotted in Mulugu and were heading towards Kothagudem end.

In addition to the Gutti Koyas habitations, the forest officials are now tracking the tiger movements from the Chattisgarh end as well.

For better coordination and effective tiger conservation practices, the Telangana forest department had held a meeting with Maharashtra forest department officials in November. With tigers’ movement increasing across the border, another meeting is planned before Sankranti.

Similarly, a meeting would be conducted with Chattisgarh forest department as well, the official added.