Foresters Plan To Trap Elusive Tiger In Cage
Tiger from Chhattisgarh moving along Godavari river's course: Reports
VIJAYAWADA: The forest authorities are keeping track of the elusive tiger to trap it as it’s on a spree killing cattle.
The young male tiger is believed to have come from the forests in Chhattisgarh. It’s migrating and looking for a new territory. Ever since it was first noticed in Kavadigundla forest area of Telangana on January 21, it has been moving on, covering several areas including the Bedanuru reserve forest area and Antarvedigudem forest beat area in Eluru district, foresters said.
The tiger was spotted at Pattiseema project on January 31. It swam across the Godavari River and reached the Torredu village falling under the Rajahmundry rural mandal in East Godavari. It killed two cows and a calf on February 1.
Learning about the development, the forest authorities led by DFO Prabhakar Rao along with local MLA Gorantla Choudhary rushed to Torredu in the morning on February 1.
As the DFO was briefing the media, the tiger that ducked in the bushes ran away through the banana plantations near the high school at Torredu. This shocked the foresters and the MLA as also the others present there.
Subsequently, the foresters arranged tom-tom in the area, advising the people not to move alone especially during the night time.
The DFO said, “We have sighted the tiger at Torredu and we are keeping track of it by using drones and camera traps.”
The foresters are planning to use trap cages while tracking its movement with the help of drones and camera traps. However, they are facing trouble as the tiger keepsmoving along the Godavari river, giving them no chance to deploy the trap cages at strategic locations. For, the area it is moving is unsuitable for transport and deployment of trap cages as the surface area is uneven and not suitable for vehicle movement.
Foresters have mobilised men and material including trap cages and tranquillisers to trap the tiger. A challenge for them is the possibility of transporting the tiger, once caught, within a few minutes to the veterinary centre for medical care and help it regain consciousness.
This is as per the protocol of the national tiger conservation authority.
The foresters say the tiger is increasingly becoming unpredictable. Rajahmundry circle conservator of forests, BNN Murthy, said, “We are closely tracking the path of the tiger moving along the Godavari River course.”
