ADILABAD: People of Old Adilabad are experiencing an “urban tigers” phenomena in recent times with an increase in the tiger population. The tiger habitat is badly in need of more area to accommodate migrated tigers that are moving into the district.
These migrated tigers are coming close to residential areas following a depletion of the forest cover, after they migrate to Old Adilabad from Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve and Thippeshwar Tiger Reserve in bordering Maharashtra.
Inhabitants of Bejjur, Penchikalpet, and Chithalapanepalli are frequently sighting tigers on the roadsides. It is said that the behaviour of the tigers that were born and brought up in the shrubs close to residential areas would be different.
With an increase in tiger population, these wild animals are coming closer to urban areas as in the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra.
Tigers are making urban areas or residential areas with shrubs their permanent habitat in the Chandrapur Super Thermal Power station, which includes a residential area, on the outskirts of Chandrapur town.
Tiger conservation management experts call such tigers as Urban Tigers and this also included tigers migrating to the thermal power station from the Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve, which is linked directly to the thermal power station.
Many tigers have started migrating to other places too in search of partners for mating, or to establish their own habitat, and this happens due also to infighting among tigers over the territorial dominance.
A similar scenario is witnessed in the Old Adilabad district, where many tigers have migrated to the Kagaznagar forest division on the state borders from the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve. These migrated tigers are moving closer to human habitations, residential areas and towns.
Movement of migrated tiger was found near the Khairiguda opencast mine near Goleti township in May last year. Goleti township and Khairiguda opencast mine areas are similar in topography to that of Chandrapur thermal power station areas.
A tiger was seen moving in an area, a hillock formed out of dumps of coal ash removed from opencast mines. The area now looks like a small forest with shrubs. Locals cite a recent incident where a tiger migrated from Thippeshwar Tiger Reserve was moving in the Jainad mandal and crossing the main roads.
Tiger movement was also noticed near the Ryalighadpur area near Mancherial town as also on the outskirts of Mandamarri and Nennel areas in the past. On the other hand, tigers migrating to Adilabad and Nirmal districts from Thippeshwar Tiger Reserve are moving closer to the residential areas of big villages and even towns.
Recently, a tiger migrated to Narsapur (G) mandal in the Nirmal district from Kinwat forest area that was connected to the Thippeshwar Tiger Reserve of Maharashtra.
