Hyderabad: Panic gripped several villages in Telangana’s Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district on Thursday morning, January 29, as residents found fresh evidence of a moving tiger in Turkapally mandal, prompting the Forest Department to heighten alerts and intensify monitoring.
Residents of Thirumalapuram, Dharmaram and Srinivasapuram reported seeing tiger pugmarks near the Gram Panchayat office in Thirumalapuram early Thursday and alerted village sarpanch Venkatesh Yadav. Forest officials later reached the site and recorded the footprints as part of ongoing surveillance operations.
The development comes a day after forest personnel observed signs of tiger movement around Dattaipally village, about 14 km from Thirumalapuram, following confirmed sightings in Ibrahimpur earlier in the week. Villagers in the affected habitations have been advised to avoid moving alone, keep cattle confined and refrain from venturing into the forest without support.
The anxiety among people has been fuelled by a series of sightings and livestock attacks over the past fortnight in villages, including Ibrahimpur, Dattaipally, Ralla Janagaon, Baswapuram and Timmapur, in the Turkapally and adjoining Yadadri mandals.
Forest officials first became aware of the tiger’s presence on January 17, when pugmarks were spotted in a field near Ibrahimpur. The following night, the big cat attacked two calves at a cattle shed, prompting officials to collect footprints and other signs. Experts believe the animal, estimated to be around 10 years old, likely entered Telangana from Maharashtra while searching for a mate.
After a brief period away from human settlements between January 19 and 23, the tiger reappeared on the night of January 24, killing cattle at Ralla Jangaon village on the outskirts. Subsequent reports indicate further livestock killings and sightings, leading forest teams to deploy camera traps and set up trap cages in strategic forest areas.
The animal’s movement was confirmed on monitoring equipment as it shifted northwards towards Siddipet and Thirumalapuram.
Forest officials tracking the tiger say it appears to be moving from south to north across Telangana, possibly retracing its route back towards Maharashtra after wandering through the districts of Adilabad, Karimnagar, Peddapalli and Bhuvanagiri. Authorities are coordinating efforts under guidelines from the National Tiger Conservation Authority, using technical support from wildlife experts and surveillance tools to manage the situation.
The unrest in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri unfolds against the backdrop of the All India Tiger Estimation-2026 survey recently concluded across Telangana’s forests. The statewide census, conducted between January 19 and 25, documented 994 signs of tigers and other large carnivores across 32 districts, according to preliminary data released by the Telangana Forest Department. The six-day scientific exercise involving thousands of forest personnel and volunteers also recorded evidence of 552 large herbivores while assessing prey density and habitat conditions.
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