Electrocution Deaths Raise Tiger Safety Concerns for Kawal Translocation
Tigers migrating into the reserve have been returning to their original habitat in Maharashtra, according to forest officials.
Adilabad:The deaths of farmers and other persons due to illegal live electric wires laid around agricultural fields to keep wild boars away have raised concerns over the safety of tigers proposed to be translocated to the Kawal Tiger Reserve from Maharashtra’s Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve.
The forest department has been making efforts to translocate a few male and female tigers to Kawal, and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is said to have cleared the proposal recently. The recurring use of live wires to protect crops, however, has emerged as a potential threat to the proposed translocation.
No resident tiger has been sighted in Kawal since the reserve was established in 2012. Tigers migrating into the reserve have been returning to their original habitat in Maharashtra, according to forest officials.
The latest incident occurred at Valgonda village in Indravelli mandal, where farmer Madavi Neelkant died after coming into contact with a live wire allegedly laid by another farmer, Kinaka Malku Patel, to protect crops from wild boars. The incident occurred on the night of September 14 and came to light on September 17.
Utnoor CI M. Prasad said Patel had illegally drawn power from a transformer and connected it to a wire erected around his field. Patel was arrested and remanded, he said. Valgonda is close to the core area of Kawal, where tiger movement has been reported earlier.
In another recent incident, lorry cleaner Rupesh Kumar, 21, from Bihar, died after coming into contact with a live wire erected around an agricultural field in Gandhari village of Neredigonda mandal. The wire had allegedly been put up by farmer Atram Chandrabhan, 41, to protect crops from wild boars. The incident occurred near National Highway-44.
Kawal has also witnessed a previous tiger electrocution incident. A tiger moving in the Valgonda forest area was electrocuted after coming into contact with a live wire laid to protect crops from wild animals.
In October 2021, Kagaznagar forest officials seized a tiger skin, paws and teeth from a group allegedly attempting to sell them in the Kagaznagar area. Nearly 10 persons, including an Indravelli revenue inspector and two minor cattle grazers, were subsequently taken into custody. Forest officials later linked the tiger skin to villagers from Valgonda and conducted raids in nearby villages.