Tigress’ Skin, Claws Seized,Foresters Hunt For Poachers

Adilabad:Forest officials reportedly seized the skin, claws, teeth and whiskers of a tigress from the house of a local poacher in Penchikalpet mandal, Komaram Bheem Asifabad district on Monday. These body parts were missing from the carcass of a tigress found on the outskirts of Yellur village on May 14.

Officials said the tigress, aged around eight years, was electrocuted near Yellur. Asifabad divisional forest officer Neeraj Kumar Tibrewal is supervising the investigation. However, the identity of the tigress remains unclear. Officials have not confirmed whether it was K8, the only known tigress to frequent the Penchikalpet area.

Sources indicate that forest officials failed to closely monitor the tigress’ movement and keep a check on local poachers. There are inconsistencies in their account of the events leading to the tigress’ death. Forest officials claimed the tigress was last sighted alive on May 13, while women from Agharguda, who had gone into the forest to collect beedi leaves, discovered the carcass on May 14. Shockingly, forest staff were unaware of the tigress' death until villagers alerted them.

It may be recalled that four forest staff were suspended in January 2024 following the deaths of two tigers in Darigoan village in Kagaznagar mandal.

The forest department has reconstructed the scene of the offence with the accused to determine how the tigress was electrocuted, skinned and buried. However, officials have not yet produced the accused or the seized tiger parts before the media. They are expected to do so today.

Some of the accused reportedly confessed that they laid electric wires to trap wild boars and antelopes. Forest staff have taken 8–10 habitual poachers into custody from Agharguda, Yellur and Raspelli villages in Penchikalpet and Dahegoan mandals.

According to reliable sources, the recovered tigress parts were found hidden in boxes in one of the accused’s homes in Penchikalpet. Meanwhile, reports suggest that chief wildlife warden Elu Singh Meru may visit the site of the offence on Tuesday and is likely to brief the media on the developments.