Tiger sighting triggers panic in Mancherial

Sighting of a tiger on the outskirts of fringe villages of coal belt towns Bellampalli and Mandamarri on Tuesday triggered panic among the villagers.

Mancherial: Sighting of a tiger on the outskirts of fringe villages of coal belt towns Bellampalli and Mandamarri on Tuesday triggered panic among the villagers.

A shepherd, who noticed a big cat moving on the outskirts of Akenapalli village, a fringe habitation of Bellampalli and Adilpet village in Mandamarri town for the last few days, alerted Forest officials, who inspected the area and found pugmarks of the tiger.

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Bellampalli in-charge Forest Divisional Officer Ch Ravinder told ‘Telangana Today’ that a tiger was moving in the forests of Adilpet and surrounding parts for the last few days. He stated that the big cat, either from the wilds of Kumram Bheem Asifabad district or Chennur forest, may have drifted into the forests of Bellampalli.

Forest officials said CCTV cameras would be installed in the areas where the movement of the tiger was noticed. They informed that animal trackers were already deployed to trail the tiger, and requested residents of Adilpet and Akenapalli villages not to harm the wild cat and to avoid any sudden confrontations.

The big cats, residing in the forests of Kaghaznagar and Asifabad forest divisions, often enter the wild regions of Mancherial district in search of territory. The divisions already have a population of about a dozen tigers, thanks to increased migration from the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve of Chandrapur in the neighboring Maharashtra. The Chennur forest division too sees movement of tigers at regular intervals.