Tranquilising tiger is not easy, say forest officials
Forest officials say they are unable to tranquilise the tiger that has returned to the border area of Telangana state from Maharashtra a few days ago and attacked cattle on the banks of River Pranahitha.
Tranquilising a tiger near water bodies is against National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) guidelines as there would be chances of the tiger drowning by jumping into the river waters while under the influence of the medicine. The tiger on the prowl attacked cattle in the forests near Kammargoan village along the riverside in Penchikalpet mandal after returning to state borders on January 26.
Earlier, forest officials had made a futile effort to tranquilise the tiger at Kandi Bheemanna forest area in Bejjur mandal. It apparently sensed trouble, did not visit the area again and retreated to Maharashtra.
Adilabad forest officials say that NTRC guidelines are not allowing them to tranquilise the tiger. Massive preparations are needed to tranquilise a targeted tiger via tiger trap operations.
A tiger can be tranquilised only during the day. They can’t tranquilise it after sunset due to the possible danger of it becoming more violent and attacking the staff or running for some distance to escape in the jungles.
In the process, the tiger may run towards water bodies.
Forest officials say the place of tranquilising the tiger should be 10 km from water bodies.
The tiger in the area is recognized as A2 and it frequently enters the Kagaznagar forest division from bordering Maharashtra through Makodi, Veerur, Vemapalli, Kadamba and Penchikalpet mandal.
The tiger is avoiding railway tracks and choosing other paths to reach Bejjur and Penchikalpet mandals. It cannot cross the river to enter the borders of Telangana from Maharashtra because of non-stop water flow.
Local say forest officials are not informing farmers if and when there is a cattle-ill in the forest, to avoid spread of panic among the villagers. They also say forest officials have no intention to catch the tiger.
Officials keep saying that tigers coming into state borders and returning is a common phenomenon.