Tiger, leopard attack suspected after farmer mauled to death by wild animal in Asifabad

Kumram Bheem Asifabad: An elderly tribal farmer was mauled to death, allegedly by a tiger or a leopard, when he was working in his agriculture field at Gondapur hamlet under Choupanguda village in Wankidi mandal on Tuesday. Forest officials are yet to confirm whether it was a tiger or leopard. Sidam Bheem, 69, a native […]

Kumram Bheem Asifabad: An elderly tribal farmer was mauled to death, allegedly by a tiger or a leopard, when he was working in his agriculture field at Gondapur hamlet under Choupanguda village in Wankidi mandal on Tuesday. Forest officials are yet to confirm whether it was a tiger or leopard.

Sidam Bheem, 69, a native of Khanapur, died on the spot after the big cat pounced on him and dragged him to a valley while he was engaged in plucking cotton balls in a field on the fringes of the forest and on the outskirts of Gondapur around 2.30 pm. Jadav Shravan, a neighboring farmer, Bheem’s family members and some locals managed to trace the body in the valley.

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Shravan said he rushed to the spot after hearing an alarm raised by Bheem. He alerted Bheem’s family members, who were having food in a hut a little away from the field. They along with some tribals who were waiting for the ongoing survey of podu lands, reached the spot and found the body with severe injuries around the neck. Bheem is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter.

In-charge District Forest Officer Dinesh Kumar visited the spot and said the region was witnessing a human killing for the first time. He said it was yet to be ascertained whether it was a tiger or leopard and said the region was not registering movement of tigers in the recent past and there were no pugmarks of a tiger recorded at the spot of the incident so far.

The DFO further said the injuries appeared to be caused by the claws of a leopard. The injuries would be examined and analyzed to ascertain which animal killed the farmer. He assured that compensation would be extended to the kin of the victim and that steps would be taken to prevent human loss in future.

Locals claim tiger killed Bheem

Meanwhile, locals claimed that a tiger had tried to attack a cow tied to a wooden pole in Gundapur hamlet under Choupanguda in the morning. They along with shepherds prevented it from killing the cattle and chased for some distance. They alleged that the same tiger then moved towards a hillock and attacked the farmer as he was alone.