VIZIANAGARAM: A Suspected tiger on the prowl has been giving sleepless nights to the forest department and villagers in Shrungavarapu Kota mandal in the district for the past several days.The animal, seen by several villagers, had also killed two sheep on the outskirts of Krishnapuram village in the S Kota mandal, further fuelling the fear among the villagers. People living in Mentada, Gajapathinagaram, Bondapalli and S Kota mandals claimed that they had seen a big cat, but could not confirm whether it was a tiger or leopard.
A forest official said it was a tiger, sighted for the first time in the district’s forests. “The Krishnapuram sarpanch informed us about the movement of a tiger in the village. We visited the spot, collected pug marks and sent them to higher officials. They confirmed that the pug marks belong to a tiger,’’ S Kota deputy range officer D Gangaraju said, adding that they have alerted the locals residents
The official opined the tiger might have crossed over from the forests in Odisha. “The tiger attacked a flock of sheep on Tuesday and killed two. Chances are bleak that it would remain in the same area. It may move to dense forest area instead of going to human habitations,’’ he said.He said people have been advised against taking cattle into the forest and moving alone on the forest fringes.
District forest officer S Venkatesh, meanwhile, said the pugmarks seemed to be that of a big leopard or a small tiger. “It might have moved in from Visakhapatnam or Odisha forests to Vizianagaram agency. We are observing the movements of the animal. Earlier, we have arranged eight cameras in Birasadavalasa village in Mentada mandal to locate the suspected tiger/leopard. However, we did not get any tiger/leopard movements so far,’’ he said.
Officials suspect that the tiger might have come searching for water in Andhra, Tatipudi and Ananta Sagar reservoirs. For the past two weeks, the local communities in the forest range have reportedly cited the movement of the tiger in Mentada, Gajapathi Nagaram and Bondapalli mandal.