Tiger Nears Papikondalu National Park After Roaming Across Four Districts
Forest teams track big cat as it nears park, relief likely for villagers
Kakinada: After roaming across several agency areas for over a month and triggering panic among villagers, a tiger is now moving towards the Papikondalu National Park in Polavaram district, offering hope of relief to affected residents.
The animal, which had caused concern in Rampachodavaram, East Godavari, Kakinada and Alluri Sitarama Raju districts, was last spotted heading towards the national park on Sunday evening. Forest officials are closely monitoring its movement and expect it to enter the forest area soon.
Special forest teams, including a unit from Maharashtra, have been deployed to track and, if required, capture the tiger and shift it to the Animal Rescue Centre in Visakhapatnam. Its movement is being tracked through radio collars fitted earlier, though officials said signal detection becomes difficult in dense forest areas.
The tiger had stayed for two days in the hillock areas of Nelakota and Ramadurgam in Devipatnam mandal, prompting evacuation of nearby villages. Earlier, it had moved through plain areas such as Peda Kondepudi in Seethanagaram mandal of East Godavari district and parts of Prathipadu and Yeleswaram mandals in Kakinada district.
Forest officials have issued a high alert in Pochamma Gandi and Sarabhavaram areas, advising people not to venture into forest areas unnecessarily. The tiger is believed to have travelled nearly 400 kilometres over the past 40 days and killed several cattle, causing distress among villagers.
Polavaram district forest officer Sivakumar Gangal said the animal’s movement is being continuously tracked through radio collars. He added that while signal tracking becomes difficult in dense forest zones, the tiger is now moving closer to Papikondalu National Park. He urged people in the surrounding areas to remain alert.
