TIGER SPOTTED NEAR MANUGURU, OFFICIALS ALERT

Locals reportedly spotted a tiger at Manuguru forest range in Bhadradri Kothagudem district on Friday, putting the forest department staff on high alert. After receiving the information, forest personnel confirmed the presence of the big cat by finding its pug marks and began tracking the tiger. District forest officer Ranjit Naik said the tiger was not a resident.

“We think it has probably come from Papikonda National Park in Andhra Pradesh, because earlier a tiger was reported in the adjoining Paloncha range. It is not from Indravati National Park,” Naik said. He added that a tiger had been spotted in the range last year too.

The official said the tiger looked like a young adult aged 4-5 years, and was probably looking for a territory. Typically, such tigers move around in search of a territory and may venture far from their place of origin. Naik said in case the tiger had come from Papikonda, it would have travelled around 100 km to reach here.

To track the cat, base camp watchers and field officers placed camera traps. They also shared pictures of the tiger’s pug marks with forest officials at Papikonda to check if it has indeed migrated from there. But the officials said they had not received confirmation yet, and neither had a tiger been reported missing in Papikonda.

The forest personnel are also creating awareness on the tiger’s presence among local villagers. Wherever the tiger’s presence is detected, the department is not allowing locals to venture out alone, especially at nights. Locals are also being told not to go within forest areas.