Cattle grazer narrowly escapes death in tiger attack

Nellore: A cattle grazer suffered grievous injures as a tiger attacked him in the Nallamala forests at Guttalachenu area near Palutla Gudem in Yarragondapalem mandal of Prakasam district Tuesday night.

The victim Desavath Balu Nayak, who took some cattle for grazing in the forest, was shocked as the tiger charged towards him. Nayak and another person countered the attack using sticks in their hand.

The counterattack with loud sounds scared the tiger and it retreated to the forests. Balu Nayak sustained deep injuries on his head and other parts of the body as the tiger charged at him using its claws.

Residents of Palutla rushed the victim to the government hospital in Yarragondapalem for treatment. His condition was stated to be stable.

Locals said that they never came across tigers though there were several encounters with bears. Forest officer of Ganjivaripalli area Subba Rao came to the hospital along with his staff and elicited information on the attack from Balu Nayak.

He said Balu Nayak would have been killed but he saved himself by using a towel similar to cover his head, like a turban, and bravely holding sticks to fight the tiger.

Meanwhile, the inhabitants of Palutla Gude are worried about taking their cattle into the forest for grazing. “We know there are some tigers but they never attacked cattle or any human all these years,” a resident of the Gudem said.