Tigers Coming Out of Forests Due to Low Prey, Habitat Destruction

Vijayawada: Tigers straying into human habitations, mainly from the forests of Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra and killing of cattle is causing serious worry to villagers in some districts of Andhra Pradesh.

A young male tiger aged four years originating from the forests of Chhattisgarh has been moving in parts of Eluru and East Godavari districts after its entry to AP from the Telangana forests on January 21. The foresters and experts from the Pune based RESQ are attempting capture by tranquilising the tiger, so as to release it back into the forests.

A tiger was spotted at the Buradakota village of Prathipadu mandal in Kakinada district in December 2024. Another tiger was spotted in the villages of Prathipadu and Sankavaram mandals in Kakinada district in the same month. A tiger pair originating from the forests of Maharashtra strayed into Siddhapuram and other areas of Atmakur mandal in erstwhile Kurnool district 10 years ago and strayed for about 45 days before returning to the place of origin.

Tigers are straying away from their natural habitat in the forests due to reasons like habitat destruction or initiation of infrastructure projects for transport, power etc.

Other reasons are low-density of prey population as a result of migration caused by lack of feed, water, poaching and killing; a temptation to get feed in the form of easy prey like cattle; a natural instinct to explore; and for mating.

Wildlife experts suggest that the foresters ensure adequate availability of prey populations especially in areas where big cats are found. In case the prey population is not available, wild pigs and sambar deer and other animals should be released into the forests and encourage their breeding to ensure that their populations grow and eventually serve as feed to the big cats.

They called for stringent action to control poaching of wildlife. Poachers go for hunting of wild pigs, deer etc as their meat is sold in the fringe villages of the forests.

Foresters say they are finding the young tigers called floaters straying into human habitations and finding easy prey in the form of cattle to eat and survive. They would move around for about 40 to 45 days and go back to their place of origin. “These are crucial days to protect them and to ensure there’s no human-tiger conflict,” they stress.

Additional principal chief conservator of forests Shanti Priya Pande (wildlife) said, “If tigers enter human habitations, go on a cattle-killing spree, we will try to drive them into forests. If this fails, we will capture and release them into the forests.”