Forest Officials Revise Strategy to Recapture Tiger in Eluru District
During nights, the tiger is descending into the dense vegetation in search of prey.
Vijayawada:Forest officials have revised their strategy to recapture the radio-collared tiger roaming the forest areas of Eluru district, as the animal is sensing the presence of tracking teams and eluding them.
Officials said the tiger is currently moving in Velerupadu area of the Kukkunuru forest range. During the days, it is taking shelter on hilltops. During nights, the tiger is descending into the dense vegetation in search of prey.
Several teams equipped with VHF antennas, tranquilisers, trap cameras, cages, drones, thermal drones, flashlights, and other tracking equipment are using the tiger’s satellite collar to monitor the tiger's movements. However, the tracking becomes difficult when the animal moves into a dense forest or during overcast weather conditions owing to poor signal or its absence altogether.
The elusive tiger had earlier been in the forest areas of Polavaram, before it crossed the Godavari River into Eluru district. It subsequently moved into forest areas of Telangana. It has now returned to the Velerupadu region.
Wildlife experts from Kerala, Karnataka, Visakhapatnam, and the Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve are assisting the AP Forest department in monitoring and recapturing the animal.
Eluru divisional forest officer P. Venkat Sandeep Reddy said the tiger's movements are under their constant surveillance. "We are keenly monitoring its movement. In the last few days, there have been no major mass killings of cattle, unlike the killing of 12 cattle on a single day earlier. We will capture it once it enters revenue villages," he said.
A forester observed that availability of sufficient prey and water following the recent rainfall and dense vegetation growth could keep the tiger within the forest, reducing the likelihood of it entering the fringe villages again.
Rajamahendravaram circle chief conservator of forests T. Jyothi said, "We are waiting for the tiger to move to a relatively plain area in the forest, so that we are able to use the tranquiliser. Once it is tranquilised and sedated, we will move it into the cage and shift it to a safe zone.”
On capturing the tiger in the hillocks, she felt it would be highly difficult to mount the hillock without the tiger knowing and tranquillising it. Carrying the 250-odd kg animal on a stretcher before safely shifting into a cage will be highly impossible, the chief conservator observed.