Tiger pugmarks spark panic in Adilabad’s Bheemapur mandal

Tiger pugmarks spotted in Bheemapur and Chintalamanepalli mandals have triggered panic among farmers. Forest officials suspect the tiger strayed from Maharashtra reserves and have deployed trackers and camera traps

Adilabad/Kumram Bheem Asifabad: A tiger scare has gripped parts of Bheemapur mandal on Thursday.

Locals claimed that they noticed pugmarks of a tiger at a hillock and in agricultural fields on the outskirts of Bheempur Arli (T) village in Bheemapur mandal, triggering panic among farmers. A farmer raised an alarm after spotting it in his field. He said that the tiger entered the forests after killing a wild boar. They urged forest officials to divert the tiger.

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Forest officials said that a tiger might have drifted towards the forests of Arli (T) and Gunjala villages in Bheempur from Tipeshwar Tiger Reserve in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra by crossing the Penganga river in search of territory. They stated that animal trackers were pressed into service, while CCTV camera traps were installed to track the movement of the tiger. They urged the farmers to be cautious of the tiger movement.

Meanwhile, residents said that they found pugmarks of a tiger between Adipelli and Dabba villages in Chintalamanepalli mandal. They stated that they were afraid of taking up farm activities, considering the movement of the tiger. They requested the officials to track the tiger and to prevent human loss. They cited that a woman was killed by a tiger while harvesting cotton at Easgaon village in 2024.

Officials said that a tiger from Maharashtra’s Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve strayed into the forests of Sirpur (T) before entering Chintalamanepalli from Kadamba forests. They advised the farmers to move in groups and to make noise while removing weeds in cotton farms. They stated that CCTV camera traps were set up to trail the tiger.