Odisha: Fear of Royal Bengal Tiger haunts again as it kills two heads of cattle
Bhubaneswar: People living in Odisha’s Gajapati and Rayagada districts are in tense now as a Royal Bengal Tiger (RPT) which had appeared twice in the region a few days ago and killed a cow, allegedly killed two cattle heads late on Saturday night.
The preying big cat has reportedly slipped out of Vidarbha forest in Maharashtra and has travelled over 750 km to relocate itself in search of a safer habitat and a mate.
Reports said the tiger entered the orchard of Timiti Bhuyan, a resident of Uama village under R Udaygiri forest range on Saturday night, and killed an ox and a calf.
The slain animals were tethered at neck to their straight stalls outside the farmer’s cottage on Saturday night.
On Sunday morning, Timiti was shocked to see mutilated body parts of his cattle lying scattered near the cottage. He informed the local forest department officials about the incident.
“The ox and calf were tied at the neck to their stalls. The tiger killed and ate them up on Saturday night. Their body parts were found in the morning. The tiger scats were found there too,” said Timiti.
On Tuesday, a team of forest officials along with some staff of the veterinary department rushed to the spot and examined the pugmarks and scats. They started an investigation into the matter and collected samples of the pugmarks and scats. The scats were sent for laboratory tests.
Rajesh Paika, a livestock inspector, said, “I got information about two domestic animals having been killed by some wild animals in Uama village. The body parts of the two cattle were lying there. Some wild animals might have killed the cattle. The fecal matter and the pugmarks of the wild animal were found. The animal could be that of a tiger, but it can be only confirmed after the test report of the samples.”
Gajapati divisional forest officer (DFO) S Anand said, “We have been tracking the movements of a tiger. It is the same tiger that might have killed the cattle. The big cat has gone into the Gudari range in the Rayagada district."
The Royal Bengal Tiger (RBT) had earlier on November 23 allegedly killed a cow at Anlabar under the Debagiri forest range in the same Gajapati district. Later the forest department got the clue of the RBT after its image was captured in a trap camera in the area.
