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Man-eater which killed 2 tribals in Telangana's Kumaram Bheem resurfaces
The forest authorities, who observed the pug marks in the fields, identified it as the same male tiger which killed two people in nearby areas in November and had disappeared into the adjacent forests of Maharashtra.
A tiger, which killed two tribal young men in Telangana’s Kumaram Bheem Asifabad district within a span of three weeks in November 2020, is back in the same forest once again sending the forest department into a tizzy.
The tribals informed the forest authorities that a tiger had been on the prowl in the Rampur forest area of Dahegaon block since the early hours of Wednesday and had attacked cattle near Kammaragaon village along the Pranahita riverside.
The forest authorities, who observed the pug marks in the fields, identified it as the same male tiger which killed two people in nearby areas in November and haddisappeared into the adjacent forests of Maharashtra.
First, it had killed a 20-year-old youth Sidam Vignesh at Digada village on November 11 and disappeared into the forest after partly eating his flesh. On November 29, it mauled a 19-year-old girl Pasula Nirmala to death at the Mannewada hamlet of Penchikalpet block.
“Yes, the same man-eater is back in the Asifabad forests again. Last time, it had escaped all the traps we had laid to capture it and went deep into the Maharashtra forests. After nearly two months, it has appeared again,” district forest officer S Santaram said.
He said the department authorities have alerted the tribals in all the hamlets close to the forests and asked them not to venture into the forests for grazing cattle or to fetch forest produce.
“We have laid traps once again and are working out other methods to capture it as per the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). Since it has already tasted human flesh, it will definitely pose a danger to human habitations,” Santaram said.
The forest officers have already been campaigning extensively in the tribal villages to create awareness among villagers on do’s and don’ts they need to follow to prevent incidents of wild animal attacks.
“We have asked them to move in groups when they go inside the forests for harvesting of crops or other agriculture operations. One or two of them should keep a watch on the movement of animals and sound an alert by drum beating or blowing trumpets when they spot wild animals,” the official said.
The forest officials suggested that the tribals constitute a village protection committee comprising local sarpanch and forest beat officer, which will monitor the movement of tigers and inform the higher officials immediately. All the tribals venturing into forests should inform the protection committee about their movement, they said.
