MYSORE: First, there were elephants and other wild animals wandering out of the forests and encroaching land inhabited by humans.
Now, it is the turn of the tigers. The big cats and wild dogs are frequently sighted at the villages falling in the Omkar forest range here. The increasing number of tigers, boars and leopards entering these villages and the attacks on domestic livestock have increased the fear among the people of nearby Nanjangud.
Kurubarahundi, Hanchipura, Kootanahalli, Hoapura, Devarajashettypura, Indiranagar, Parvathipura and other villages are the most affected due to the frequent tiger visits.
The tigers wander into the villages in the evenings and in the wee hours. One of the tigers attacked a buffalo owned by extaluk panchayat member MV Prabhuswamy of Nagalapura village.
However, it got scared and disappeared into the forest, leaving the carcass, as Prabhuswamy and the villagers raised an alarm. The villagers are apprehensive about venturing out after dark for fear of tigers waiting on the prowl. "We are scared to send our children and family members to the fields fearing attacks from tigers and leopards,” Shivappa, a villager, said.
The villagers attribute the entry of wild animals into the human landscape to the incessant rains. The last season has seen plenty of water in nearby Chikkamadahalla and Puttamadahalla, which has attracted deer and so the number of wild animals has increased.
Range Forest Officer (Omkar forest range) Santosh said that over the past year about 60 domestic animals have either been killed or are missing, adding that the forest department has paid Rs 3,000 to 4,000 as compensation to villagers.
However, they are dissatisfied with the forest department for paying negligible amounts as compensation as against the actual money they spent on their cattle, said Santhosh. Former president of the taluk panchayat, Nagesh Raj, said that the forest department should dig trenches and erect solar fences in order to prevent elephants, tigers and other wild animals from entering the villages and should check the entry of domestic cattle inside the forest.
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