Hyderabad: The Forest Department of Telangana has said that a tiger has been moving in the Kawal Tiger Reserve. There was no tiger movement in this reserve for the last one year. Though Kawal is being maintained as a tiger reserve, the officials have found it difficult to sight any animal. Currently, there are no resident tigers in this reserve.
However, with the efforts of the forest department in controlling the human and cattle movement in the reserve has resulted in the visit of the tiger. Though the farmers in the nearby areas have noticed the pug marks of the tiger fifteen days back, the forest officials have verified the pictures of the camera traps and have confirmed that there is a new visitor in Kawal.
The officials have also confirmed that the visitor is a male, and is aged around three years.
Speaking to this newspaper, Nirmal DFO K. Damodar Reddy said, “We have identified that the camera traps have captured the image of the tiger that is moving in the reserve and we are very happy to have him here. The camera traps have taken a picture of the animal on Saturday morning. We have developed the habitat that is required for the tigers and we are expecting that this tiger would stay here as a resident. It is believed that the tiger has arrived from Maharashtra.”
In Maharashtra, the total number of tigers are high and in the last few years, some of these tigers have been visiting other places to find their new home to avoid the boundary clashes. As part of this many tigers have visited Kawal Tiger Reserve in the months of November and December.
The forest department has noticed that the guests had made their way to Kawal in 2015, 2017 and now in 2018. However, the tigers which had visited Kawal once have not come back. All the tigers that were identified in the said years were different tigers. The forest department is now waiting for the results of their efforts, expecting that this tiger will stay back and start a new life in Kawal.
