Telangana: Sighting of tiger pugmarks triggers panic among villagers in Mancherial

Forest officials said an adult female tiger from Maharashtra initially drifted towards Kumram Bheem Asifabad from where it apparently migrated to the forests of the district in search of territory

Mancherial: The sighting of pugmarks of a tiger in the forests of Buggaguda and Dharmaraopet villages in Kasipet mandal sparked panic among locals early on Friday morning.

Forest officials said that an adult female tiger from Maharashtra initially drifted towards Kumram Bheem Asifabad from where it apparently migrated to the forests of the district in search of territory in the third week of December.

Since then, it has been wandering in the forests of the Luxettipet range. It strayed into Kasipet and Bellampalli mandals a few days ago.

The officials advised the villagers not to enter deep inside the forests for cattle grazing and gathering firewood, which could potentially lead to a confrontation with the tiger.

They told farmers to begin agriculture activities after 10 am and to leave the fields before 4 pm. They stated that they were closely monitoring the movement of the tiger.

A male tiger named S-12 too had roamed the forests of the district before straying into the forests of Kerameri in November.