Hyderabad: A male tiger has been spotted for the first time in the Nagarjunasagar division of the Amrabad Tiger Reserve after 27 years, said Forest department officials. The sighting of the male cat, estimated to be about four to five years old, was captured on a camera trap in the Kambalapally area, stated an officials.
The Amrabad Tiger Reserve has three divisions: Amrabad, Atmakur and Nagarjunasagar. The male tiger is reported to have been staying in the Nagarjunasagar division of the reserve from the last few weeks and has been preying on sambar deer and nilgai.
The tiger’s spotting in the Nagarjunasagar area is significant for the division which spans is spread over 42,000 hectares in the Amrabad Tiger Reserve. It includes about 40 villages in and around the forest areas. The Forest department has set up about 80 camera traps, through which it was able to find the male deer.
The development has brought in some cheer for the department as until now tigers were only found in the Amrabad and Atmakur divisions of the forest areas. The Forest department is also taking stock of the habitat and making an inventory to identify road networks and gaps that cause fragmentation. Moreover, departmental staff is also being trained in tiger tracking, handling tiger kills and pugmark lifting to ensure that the local staff is competent in protecting the newly identified tiger and other wildlife in the Nagarjunasagar division of the Amrabad Forest Reserve.
