Hyderabad: In order to enhance the prey base for tigers in the Kagaznagar forest areas of KB Asifabad district, authorities are set to introduce Spotted Deer (Chital) from various deer parks, potentially including zoos. Approximately 50 deer are slated for transportation and release in the forest, addressing the scarcity of the natural prey base for tigers, primarily consisting of deer and wild boar.
This urgency arises following the recent discovery of two deceased tigers — a sub-adult cub and a large male — in the Dairgaon forest beat in the Kagaznagar belt. There are suspicions that the tigers may have fallen victim to a poisoned cattle kill, although officials claim the sub-adult cub died in a fight with another tiger.
S. Shantaram, the field director of Kawal Tiger Reserve, highlighted the current imbalance in the tiger's diet, stating, "Almost 90 per cent of kills made by tigers in the area are cattle, and only 10 per cent are deer or wild boar, the natural prey of tigers."
Previous attempts to address the absence of the tiger's natural prey involved releasing 80 Chital in three locations in the area. However, this initiative did not yield desired results due to rampant poaching by villagers and the deer's preference for open grasslands, which are scarce in the undulating landscape of Kagaznagar forest. The forest is part of the tiger corridor connecting Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh's tiger reserves with Kawal. The deer tended to leave the forest areas and migrate to plain areas that are heavily encroached, leaving tigers reliant on cattle kills for survival.
Shantaram noted that the entire corridor area comprises heavily fragmented forest patches interspersed with villages, farmland, and roads, with the level of fragmentation on the rise.
