Tiger Johnny meets mate; Pair of tigers sighted in Asifabad

Forest officials said their staffers sighted a pair of tigers moving at a stream and heard the roaring of the tigers.

Kumram Bheem Asifabad: The sighting of a pair of tigers at a stream near Itikalapahad village in Sirpur (T) mandal on Sunday has cheered forest officials, who are now hoping that the pair might nurture a tiger family in the region.

Forest officials said their staffers sighted a pair of tigers moving at a stream and heard the roaring of the tigers. They stated that scratches, made by a tiger to declare boundaries, on the trunk of the tree were also found. They suspected a male might have joined a female tiger and they both were staying at the stream.

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The officials believe that the male tiger, popular as Johnny, from Painganga wildlife sanctuary in Yavatmal and Nanded districts of Maharashtra, managed to meet a female tiger, which also drifted to Sirpur (T) from Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve of the neighbouring State.

They hoped that the two would nurture a family of tigers in this region soon. Johnny had begun his marathon journey in October travelling nearly 400 km in search of a female companion.

Meanwhile, 10 special teams were formed to monitor the movement of a tiger which attacked a farmer, Rauthu Suresh, at Dubbaguda village in Sirpur (T) mandal on Saturday. Besides these, 25 teams were scanning the forests of Sirpur (T) range, while 30 CCTV cameras were installed to record images of the tigers. Drone cameras were also flown in the forests to detect the tiger, which mauled a woman to death at Easgaon village in Kagaznagar mandal on Friday.

On the other hand, Field Director, Kawal Tiger Reserve, S Santharam visited Suresh, who was under observation at a private hospital in Mancherial. He said steps were being taken to prevent human loss by tracking the movement of tigers.