Forest officials track tiger near Sunigram Reserve Forest

A sub-adult tiger has been roaming Siddipet forests for nearly two weeks, moving from Arepally to Thungalapally. With no human encounters so far, villagers are on alert, cattle are moved, and forest officials continue to monitor its movements closely.

Hyderabad: After staying put for four days in the forest around Arepally village, in Koheda mandal of Siddipet, the wandering tiger moved towards the reserve forest of Thungalapally village in the same mandal.

The pug marks of the tiger were noticed in the Gundareddipalle village on Thursday morning, raising an alarm in the villages of Thungalapally, Kurella, Sunigram and surroundings.

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The local village elders alerted the residents against moving alone in the fields and requested to return home early in the evening after the forest officials confirmed the tiger’s presence in the reserve forest around Sunigram reservoir.

Three teams of veterinarians, along with forest officials, are tracking the movement of the tiger. Apparently, the tiger is heading towards the Tadoba National Park from where it is believed to have ventured out in search of a mate or to establish its territory.

With frustration and panic increasing in the villages for nearly a fortnight in Siddipet, the forest department is also thinking about tranquilising the tiger and shifting it to a reserve forest.

However, the veterinarians are not supporting the idea as there is no human-animal conflict instance reported so far, as the tiger is cautious and staying away from human habitations. To prevent electrocution of the tiger or to stop farmers from going to the field, the power supply to fields is stopped at night.

Officials said all the cattle killings reported so far are a distance away from human habitats and the sub-adult tiger, around five years did not enter inside any village so far. The wildlife experts and veterinarians suggest that the tiger be allowed to proceed towards its natural habitat without being disturbed.

“A constant watch is kept on the movement of the tiger by the department and special teams that are working along with us. So far, no decision has been taken to tranquilise the tiger. If need arises, there is certainly a possibility of sedating the tiger and shifting it,” said Siddharth Reddy, Forest Range Officer.

With no fresh kill in the last five days, fear looms large in the villages located around the Sunigram reserve forest. The tiger had killed seven cattle on Sunday at Ghanpur and Arepally villages. It had preyed upon the kill at Arepalli outskirts and was confined to the area for four days before moving in the north direction on Wednesday night. The villages had shifted their cattle to safer places to avoid losses.