Tiger scare spreads across Yadadri, Turkapally after cattle attacks

Fear has spread across Yadadri and Turkapally mandals following repeated cattle attacks and sightings of an elusive tiger, prompting villagers to stay indoors as forest officials intensify surveillance using drones and camera traps

YADADRI BHUVANGIRI: Even as the forest department teams continue to track the movement of the elusive tiger using drone cameras, a sense of fear prevails among the villagers in the Yadadri and Turkapally mandal of Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district.

Following attacks on cattle in Ibrahimpur and Dattayapally of Turkapally mandal, and Ralla Jangaon in Yadadri mandal in the last one week, the villagers are highly apprehensive.

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According to the forest officials, the united Nalgonda district does not have a history of tiger movement, though there is a presence of leopards in the forests in the district.

A villager, P Raju from Dattarpally village in Yadadri mandal said that two days ago, the forest department and gram panchayath staff visited the households and asked people to be careful in view of tiger movement in the fringes of the village. “Shepherds are avoiding entering into the forest areas for fear of being attacked by the tiger. It is for the first time, we are hearing about the movement of tigers around Yadadri,” said P Raju.

Anjamma, a resident of Ralla Jangaon village, where the tiger had attacked a calf on Saturday night said that people are remaining indoors following the movement of the tiger. “No one has seen the tiger so far, but the officials confirmed the presence of the tiger,” said Anjamma.

The tiger was also spotted on the outskirts of Basapuram village on Sunday evening and later at Timmapur village , of Yadadri mandal.

In the Ibrahimpur and Dattayapally villages in Turkapally mandal the local people are living in constant fear. “A few weeks ago, the tiger attacked and killed two calves on the outskirts of Ibrahimpur village, it has now made a comeback in the mandal and attacking the cattle. People are not going to the field for work nor taking the cattle for grazing to forest. The forest department should take some steps to prevent any harm to cattle or humans,” demanded J Karunakar, sarpanch of Dattayalapally village.

The villagers in both the mandals are moving around only in groups for fear of being attacked by the tiger. “We have been told that the tiger is accustomed to moving close to human habitations. It is something new for us, so far we have not heard about tiger presence in the local forest,” said Mallesh P, a farmer.

The villagers are hooked to their mobile phones to get updates about the tiger movement and attacks. “The youth are constantly posting messages in whatsapp about sightings of the tiger at some or the other place in the mandal,” added Mallesh.

The tiger is moving in a territory spanning around 20 kilometers in Turkapally and Yadadri mandal after it was spotted ten days ago. The forest officials suspect it moved into Telangana from neighbouring Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, the forest department officials are installing camera traps in the forest to track the movement of the tiger.