MULUGU: The movement of a tiger and a leopard is causing tension among residents of tribal hamlets deep inside the forest, with people afraid even to leave their homes.Forest officials have marked several areas in Wazeedu and Eturnagaram, from where the movements of the big cats were reported, as danger zones. Officials have warned villagers not to venture out alone in the village. A calf was attacked and killed in Illapuram village, which has added to the fears and further scared residents.
Forest officials said expert teams have been deployed to trace the movements of the animals in forest areas. CCTV and drone cameras are also being used to capture their movement and increase patrolling in forest areas, they said.Speaking to Express, Mulugu District Forest Officer (DFO) and in-charge DFO of Jayashankar Bhupalpally district Pradeep Kumar Shetty said the entire staff assigned to the Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary is alert due to the tiger’s presence. They first identified a tiger’s pug marks, which confirmed its presence, while a leopard was spotted near the villages. He said two tigers were spotted last year on August 6, 2020 and October 10, 2020 in Erurnagaram. Shetty said the tigers spoted here were believed to have migrated from the Indravati Reserve.
“Forest beat officers have been put on alert to find the whereabouts of the tiger and the leopard. We are analysing whatever footage was captured by cameras set up in the forest area,” Shetty said.He added, “We are creating awareness, via announcements, in the surrounding villages warning residents not to venture into the forest area for cattle grazing.” He said they were yet to ascertain the tiger’s movements. This is the third time in the past decade that tigers have been detected in the region, Shetty said.
Tiger attacks cow
Adilabad: A big cat attacked a cow in Nakallapalli forest area in Kotapalli mandal of Mancherial district on Thursday. The cow was taken to the forest by its owner, A Rajiah, for grazing, along with his goats and sheep, when the incident happened. According to sources, a tiger has been prowling in the Kotapalli mandal forest area for quite some time now. As a result, the local residents and farmers are now scared to step out