Tiger moving in forests of Mancherial faces threat of snares

The tiger is believed to have wandered into the wild of this region from the neighbouring forests in neighboring Kumram Bheem Asifabad district a few weeks ago

Mancherial: A tiger named K-12 has been found moving in the forests of Bellampalli and Chennur divisions for over two weeks leading to panic among rural people as also the forest department officials who suspect that the tiger faces the threat of snares set up by hunters.

The tiger is believed to have wandered into the wild of this region from the neighbouring forests in neighboring Kumram Bheem Asifabad district a few weeks ago. It killed a cow in the Kotapalli forest range after attacking two bullocks in Kushnepalli recently. The tiger’s movement in the forests triggered panic among shepherds and residents of Rampur, Kharji, Bheempur, Girivelli, and many other forest fringe villages.

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However, environmentalists are concerned over the tiger’s safety in these two divisions. “Hunters lay electrified snares to kill deer, wild boars and sheep on the forest edges during winter. Such snares pose a threat to territorial animals like the tigers,” a tiger conservation activist opined.

He argued that the forest officials should take steps to divert the big cat into dense forests so that no threat is posed to it. Incidentally, the K-12 is the only tiger residing in the forests of the district. A tiger named Phalguna-II migrated from Kumram Bheem Asifabad and a four-year old male tiger entered the forests of Mancherial from Nirmal and were killed when they came in contact with electrified snares in 2017 and 2019 respectively.

District Forest Officer Shiv Aasheesh Singh said that a base camp was set up and animal trackers were deployed in addition to 48 CCTV camera traps being installed to track the tiger’s movement. Efforts are being made to ensure safe passage and to avoid threats to it. He requested the rural people to avoid sudden confrontation with it.

Forest department authorities say that in case of a tiger attack on the cattle, compensation was being paid within a month. A veterinary doctor assesses the value of the cattle killed to determine the compensation which is paid to the owner. In case the tiger kills human, the forest department pays a compensation of Rs 5 lakh and immediate relief of Rs 10,000. Similarly, an ex-gratia of Rs 75,000 is given to the victim in case of grievous injuries caused by wild animals.