Pugmarks confirm tiger’s movement in Karimnagar, residents asked to stay alert

Forest officials in Karimnagar have confirmed the movement of a tiger near Rukmapur village in Choppadandi mandal after pugmarks were found in agricultural fields. The animal, believed to be a male aged three to four years, had earlier been sighted near Bahaddurkhanpet and Vedugatta villages.

Karimnagar: A tiger, which reportedly moved between Bahaddurkhanpet and Vedugatta villages of Karimnagar rural mandal over the last two days, has now moved towards Rukmapur village in Choppadandi mandal.

Forest officials, who launched a search operation on Tuesday, found pugmarks of the big cat in agricultural fields on the outskirts of Rukmapur on Wednesday. Officials assessed that the animal is a male tiger aged around three to four years.

---

Confirming the tiger’s movement, Forest Range Officer Shoukat Hussein said they were unable to trace the direction in which the tiger moved from Rukmapur. He said teams were examining the pugmarks to ascertain the direction of its movement.

Apart from alerting residents of nearby villages, forest officials deployed two volunteers in each village to assist in patrolling activities.

Advising people to remain alert for a week, forest officials asked farmers not to visit their agricultural fields before 7 am and after 5 pm.

They also advised farmers against venturing into fields alone and urged them to move in groups.

While hunting, tigers usually travel 60 to 70 kilometres per day. However, officials said the district was not a suitable habitat for tigers as forest cover stands at only about 1.5 percent.

Forest officials opined that the tiger may have ventured out of its usual territory in search of a mate. They said it was difficult to assess whether the big cat would continue ahead or change direction and move towards Mancherial by crossing the Godavari river.