Where is K4? Arrest of poachers triggers concerns over fate of tigress

K4 has been missing for two years and now, eyebrows are being raised over her fate in the wake of three poachers being arrested recently with the nails

Mancherial: Mystery continues to shroud the whereabouts of K4, a tigress who was seen with a snare around her abdomen. K4 has been missing for two years and now, eyebrows are being raised over her fate in the wake of three poachers being arrested recently with the nails and other remains of a tiger.

The tigress was one of the four cubs delivered by Phalguna in the forests of Kaghaznagar in 2016. She was trapped in an iron snare set by poachers to hunt wild animals in Maharashtra. She then drifted towards the Mancherial forests in 2018. In footage recorded by camera traps, K4 was seen with the snare around her abdomen till 2021.

---

While Forest department had tracked her movement, special teams sent by the National Tiger Conservation Authority too had monitored her health. A special committee was also formed to look after her health. However, for the last two years now, K4 has not been sighted or captured in camera traps.

Coincidentally, three poachers were arrested on March 25 for poaching a tiger in the forests of Dugnepalli village in Bellampalli mandal. Tiger nails were recovered from them, while the remains of a carcass too were exhumed from a spot. The poachers said a tiger was electrocuted when it touched an electrified snare meant for hunting wild animals around four years ago.

The carcass was sent to a forensic lab to ascertain the age and gender of the tiger. A report is likely to be received in a month. Officials, who were at a loss to explain how the poachers covered up the killing for quite long, are verifying whether others were involved in the incident.
In the meanwhile, animal lovers, citing the poaching incident, have expressed concern over the whereabouts of K4.

“A probe is being continued to find the whereabouts of K4. Special focus will be laid to trace her. She could have entered the forests of the neighboring Maharashtra as well,” a senior forest official told ‘Telangana Today’.