Tigers hunt for home in Telangana

Hyderabad: Increasing number of big cats in neighbouring Maharashtra and animal instinct of tigers to establish their territory seem to have resulted in the killing of two youngsters in Kumram Bheem Asifabad district in quick succession. Telangana Forest Department, which has embarked on locating pug marks of the two tigers that entered the State a […]

Hyderabad: Increasing number of big cats in neighbouring Maharashtra and animal instinct of tigers to establish their territory seem to have resulted in the killing of two youngsters in Kumram Bheem Asifabad district in quick succession.

Telangana Forest Department, which has embarked on locating pug marks of the two tigers that entered the State a fortnight ago, believes that one of the two tigers is a male. The department is also sure that the tiger that attacked a tribal girl is different from the one that attacked a young man Sidam Vignesh in Dahegaon on November 11, as the tiger returned to Maharashtra in a week itself. A team has been tracking its movements on the borders.

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“Number of tigers is increasing rapidly in Maharashtra and the males are coming here as they find good prey in Telangana with increased drinking water facility and greenery. On the other side of the State border, there is severe competition for prey among the felines. So, they are coming here to establish their territoriality,” R Sobha, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) and Chief Wildlife Warden, told Telangana Today.

The head of the forest force said that at least one of the tigers returned to its native forest last week and the officers tracking their movement said that they were not sure which one had attacked the tribal girl in Kondapalli and which had gone back. “The soil is dry and the teams tracking the pug marks were unable to trace any. However, they resumed their work during morning hours on Monday as it is easy to track marks during foggy hours,” she said adding that the movement of the tiger that attacked the girl is very fast. However the forest officials say the sudden spurt in tiger sightings has nothing to do with the season.

Man-animal conflict

The latest tiger attack and death reported in Bejjur Range, Compartment no 227, in a cotton field was located in the encroached two-acre land inside forest near Kondapalli village. Fifteen-year-old tribal girl, Nirmala along with her two brothers went to pick cotton from the field which was cultivated in the encroached land where the tiger attacked her. Forest team consisting of District Forest Officer Asifabad and Conservator of Forests and Field Director Kawal along with police has set up 20 camera traps around the attack site.

Sources in Telangana Forest Department say the recent attacks have occurred in identified tiger corridors. They say revenue officials could have prevented the tragedy if they stop the tribals from encroaching the forest area. “Encroachments are going on everywhere and no one is able to stop it. The incidents occurred in encroached areas,” a senior officer said.

They recalled that last year the forest officers were admonished by the High Court for removing huts set up by 40 families in a tiger zone. “The Chief Justice took the case suo moto calling our action inhuman. But when we presented our case before him and argued that it is our forest land, the honourable judge let us implement the Acts,” the forest officer said. However three families returned from the BC welfare home and constructed huts again in the danger zone.

The department, in the wake of recent killings, has urged the district authorities, Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) to help relocate the families living in the forest land. People should stay away from the notified tiger zone as there is a lot of confusion with several fake videos making rounds in social media, the Forest Department urged the tribals.

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