300 KM And Still Going Wandering Tiger Adds Karimnagar District To Its Travel Diary
“For the last two days, fewer and fewer fresh traces were seen in Siddipet in and around the Thoguta village and on Tuesday, we received reports of pugmarks being seen in an agricultural field near Vedurugutta village, barely 15 km from Karimnagar town. Inspection of the field confirmed that these were pugmarks of a tiger”: State forest department official
HYDERABAD: A wandering young male tiger that entered Telangana from Maharashtra around two months ago appears to be on a walkabout of epic proportions for a big cat in the state with it apparently having enough of Siddipet district, at least for now, and making its way into Karimnagar district.
“For the last two days, fewer and fewer fresh traces were seen in Siddipet in and around the Thoguta village and on Tuesday, we received reports of pugmarks being seen in an agricultural field near Vedurugutta village, barely 15 km from Karimnagar town. Inspection of the field confirmed that these were pugmarks of a tiger,” a state forest department official said on Tuesday.
With this, the tiger has so far travelled through seven districts making Karimnagar the eighth in the state and as of Tuesday, did not show any signs of stopping. Incidentally, the tiger’s entry into Karimnagar makes this the 15th district in Telangana where tigers have left their pugmarks in the last five years.
Meanwhile, a two-member team with expertise in tiger biology, behaviour and tranquilising big cats that arrived in Siddipet on Tuesday is now expected to meet with forest department officials in Hyderabad on Wednesday to discuss the movement of the tiger, and what possible steps can be taken to keep it safe on its walkabout.
After it first entered KB Asifabad district from Maharashtra, most likely from the Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, the tiger passed through Mancherial, Nirmal, Jagitial, Rajanna Siricilla, Kamareddy, Siddipet districts before surfacing in Karimnagar district. Forest officials said they have alerted people in the villages and habitations in and around Vedurugutta.
“It is amazing that this tiger covered some 300 km of more through the state but so far, only its pugmarks have been seen and other than a handful of fleeting sightings by people, it has somehow managed to negotiate open lands, roads, highways and villages safely,” a senior forest department official said.
So far, at least since it left Kamareddy district where it killed three cattle and went missing for a week after fresh pugmarks were found in the third week of December, surfaced in Siddipet district on December 26, and after pulling another disappearing act over the last two days, reappeared in Karimnagar district on Tuesday.