Tiger enters Kawal reserve after five-year gap; marks presence with cattle kill

After nearly five years, a tiger has entered the Kawal Tiger Reserve in Mancherial, Telangana, delighting Forest officials. The tiger’s presence was confirmed after it killed a cow near Indanpalli village in Jannaram mandal. Officials believe it came from Kumram Bheem Asifabad district.

Mancherial: After a gap of nearly five years, a tiger has finally entered the Kawal Tiger Reserve, cheering Forest officials.

The tiger marked its presence by killing a cow inside a mango farm in revenue land on the outskirts of Indanpalli village in Jannaram mandal on Wednesday. The unusual incident cheered Forest officials, who immediately inspected the spot and confirmed that it was a tiger that killed the cow. This ended the wait by Forest officials for the arrival of a tiger since 2021.

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Officials reckoned that the tiger entered the core of Kawal from Jodeghat village in Kerameri mandal of neighbouring Kumram Bheem Asifabad district. Steps have been taken to ensure a safe stay for the tiger.

Animal trackers have been deployed to trail the tiger, besides creating awareness among villagers over the tiger’s presence and consequences of hunting wild animals. The age and gender of the tiger are yet to be identified.

According to the officials, a tiger’s movement was last recorded on a CCTV camera trap in Jannaram division four-and-half-a-years ago. Multiple tigers were roaming in the buffer of the reserve, but had not stepped inside the core so far.

In order to attract tigers from Maharashtra to the reserve a slew of measures were taken. For instance, grasslands measuring 800 hectares were created in different parts of the facility to beckon the tigers.

The reserve has a sufficient prey base such as Indian Gazelle, sambar deer, nilgai or blue buck and wild boar. Two villages, Maisampet and Rampur, situated in the core, were evacuated after providing compensation.

Similarly, to ensure safety of wild animals, 600 CCTV cameras were installed through a grid-based model at entry points and vulnerable locations covering 1,760 sq km forest cover of the district.

Solar-power based bore wells were installed at percolation tanks in order to provide drinking water round the clock, giving rise to improvement of the habitat for the tiger.

It may be recalled here that the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in its Status of Tigers-2022 pointed out that no tigers were detected in the reserve except for a few ones in Kaghaznagar division of Kumram Bheem Asifabad district. The 41st reserve of the country was created with the cover encompassing 892 square kilometres in 2012.