Hyderabad: A three-and-a-half-year-old male tiger named S-12, which came from Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra to Telangana 25 days ago, has been roaming close to human habitations in the forest area around Kagaznagar forest division in Kumuram Bheem Asifabad district, causing concern for the local residents.
Two days ago, the tiger which had travelled from Kanargam, Gundi, and crossed Pedda Vagu, was seen in the agricultural fields of Govindapur village located just a kilometre away from Asifabad town. Most recently, forest officials spotted the tiger’s pugmarks in the forest area near Edulapahad in Tiryani Mandal, where they have set up camera traps to track its movements.
Forest officials are analysing whether the tiger could go from Edulapahad to Rebbena mandal, and Dahegaon mandal before entering the Kawal Tiger Reserve. The tiger would have to cross a four-lane highway before entering Kawal Tiger Reserve from Dahegaon.
On Tuesday, the tiger was spotted venturing near the Kairiguda opencast mines located in the boundary area of Rebbena and Tiryani mandals. The tiger had killed a cow owned by a farmer named Namdev in Dongargaon. The forest officials compensated him with Rs 5,000.
Even in 2019, a tiger named A-2 which had ventured around the Kairiguda opencast mines area first, had killed a young man and a young woman in Dahegaon and Penchikalpet mandals.
Forest officials have formed a special team to monitor the movement of the tiger, and have been alerting the villages where the tiger’s movements were being seen, to ensure they didn’t go to their agricultural fields alone.
Officials observed that due to large swathes of forest land being encroached in the Pedda Vagu area, the tigers have been moving to the Tiryani forest area. Forest officials have reportedly stated that they were going to remove those encroachments.
