Adilabad: Tigers moving in the erstwhile Adilabad district are facing a threat from speeding vehicles on National Highway-44 and live wires put up by farmers to save their standing cotton, redgram and chana crops.
Forest officials claimed at least seven tigers are moving in the erstwhile Adilabad and many in Komaram Bheem Asifabad district.
Villagers should be made aware against causing harm to the big cats while constant tracking of the movement of tigers is needed to ensure their safety.
The danger to the tigers doubles when they come close to agriculture fields and sometimes pass by these fields while moving from one place to another.
The incident of a tiger killing two goats and a bullock in the last week indicates that the tiger was moving on the fringes of the forests in Nirmal district.
A tiger moving in Boath, Sarangapur, Narsapur (G) and Kuntala mandals and killing goats and a bullock made locals panicky. The big cat migrated to Adilabad crossing the river Penganga from Thippeshwar Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra and is named ‘Johnny’.
Forest officials hoped that the tiger moving in the Thandra Forest Range in Mamada mandal would come back to the core area of the Kawal Tiger Reserve.
The tiger crossed the NH-44 at Mondigutta in Mamada mandal. The big cat also runs the risk of bumping against speeding vehicles while crossing NH-44 during night.
There were incidents of a cattle owner allegedly poisoning two tigers as he lost eight cows to a tiger and a huge delay in getting compensations from the forest department in Kagaznagar mandal in Komaram Bheem district.
Thandra forest range officer S. Ramesh Rao said they were taking all possible measures to ensure the tiger's safety. They were creating awareness among people about the importance of the tiger's presence and removing the electric wires, if any. He said forest staff are tracking the tiger’s movement round the clock.
