Hyderabad: The Telangana Forest Department has intensified its operation to catch a tiger which continued its cattle killing spree in the villages of the state’s Siddipet district.
Panic gripped people in the Arepally village of Koheda Mandal after some farmers spotted the elusive tiger.
The big cat killed five calves near Chandranaik Thanda. Farmer Maloth Ramesh lost his cattle.
Alerted by the locals, the Forest Department officials, along with the police, reached the area to collect pugmarks.
Authorities have advised farmers not to tie their cattle in agricultural fields but to keep them safely at their houses.
The Forest Department officials have also cautioned farmers not to go alone in the fields. Women, senior citizens, and children have been asked to remain alert.
Earlier, the tiger attacked and killed cattle at Ghanapur village, Akkenapally, and Baswapuram villages in the district.
At Ghanpur, the tiger killed a calf in agriculture field. Farmer Bal Reddy said when he came to the cattle shed, he found a calf killed and another seriously wounded.
The Forest officials reached the place and started to track the pugmarks of the tiger. They are setting up camera traps at the places where the cattle were killed.
The tiger’s movement was earlier reported on Saturday in some villages of Dhoolmitta Mandal.
A few farmers noticed the pugmarks of a tiger in the fields in Bairanpalle, Kootigal, and Bekkal. The forest team reached the village and launched the search operation.
Authorities asked people to be on alert and not to venture into the fields alone in the early morning until there is confirmation that the tiger had left the area.
The big cat entered Siddipet district from neighbouring Jangaon, where it killed cattle in Ammapur and Veldanda villages on Saturday.
A day earlier, the tiger killed a calf at Mandalagudem village in Raghunathpally Mandal.
The big cat is believed to have crossed into Telangana from neighbouring Maharashtra.
This is the second such incident in the Telugu states in less than a week. On Friday (Feb 6), forest officials in Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari district succeeded in catching a tiger after it roamed around the villages near Rajahmundry town, killing cattle and triggering panic among people.
The tiger was believed to have entered Andhra Pradesh from Maharashtra after crossing Telangana and Chhattisgarh.
(IANS)
