ASIFABAD: Tigers from Maharashtra moving to Sirpur in Asifabad district are not making Telangana state their home. Wildlife activists said that three tigers of the seven noticed by forest officials have disappeared. Only four tigers including two cubs are still seen. Tigers from the Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve frequently move to the border area of Telangana state and Chhattisgarh.
Tiger movement was found in forests along the border and wildlife management experts had taken measures to retain those tigers in the forests of Sirpur, but they could not. Animal trackers find three tigers missing from the jungles and it is assumed that they may have returned to Thadoba or been killed by poachers.
Recently, members of Hyderabad Tiger Conservation Society (Hyticos) reported the movements of a tiger in the forest of Kotapalli in Mancherial district. A cow was killed in the area; pug marks were found. Experts say that the management of tigers by creating a suitable ecosystem is important and this was adversely affected by the division of Adilabad district. The Kawal tiger reserve got split between four districts.
It said that poachers from other states are on the prowl in Sirpur. Lack of measures to protect tigers has become an advantage for the poachers. There are strong allegations that forest department has failed to put in a coordinated effort to save the tigers and retain them in the integrated Adilabad district.
Forest staff seizes tiger skin from duo:
Bejjur forest officials arrested two persons who were found carrying the skin of a male tiger, on Monday. According to sour-ces, the officials who got information about some people trying to sell the tiger skin went to Gudem in Bejjur mandal. They came across two bike-borne persons carrying a bag.
The bikers fled on noticing the foresters but were nabbed after a chase. The tiger skin was found in their bag. On interrogation, the duo, Pendem Sudhakar, 25, and Muvva Santhosh, 28, of Gudem said that some persons from Maharashtra had given them the tiger skin to hide in their agriculture field.
