The Forest Department has become vigilant following reports of a tiger roaming in the border areas of Siddipet and Yadadri Bhuvanagiri districts for the past two weeks. A high-level review meeting was held under the chairmanship of PCCF (HoFF) Dr. C. Suvarna to continuously monitor the tiger’s movements, in accordance with the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
This meeting was held in the wake of the recent formation of district and state-level monitoring committees. Officials were instructed to conduct continuous reviews of the tiger’s movements, observe the situation, and take necessary actions. They were also advised to ensure continuous monitoring by trackers and forest personnel to prevent any inconvenience to the public while also ensuring the tiger’s safety.
Based on information obtained through camera traps, the tiger has been identified as a male. The Forest Department has determined that this tiger originated from the Tippeshwar forest area in Maharashtra and traveled through the Kawal Tiger Reserve and several districts before reaching its current location.
Camera traps and thermal drones are being used to accurately track the tiger’s movements. Tracking teams have reported sightings of the tiger in the areas near Isaipet and Chinna Lakshmipuram.
A special technical committee has been formed at the state level to effectively manage this situation. The committee includes Harini Venugopal, a member of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Ramesh from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Imran Siddiqui from the Hyderabad Conservation Society (HyTiCOS), and experts from the ReSQ team in Pune. These experts are providing necessary technical guidance to the forest department.
The committee members participated in today’s meeting via video conference. PCCF Vinay Kumar, CCF Kshitija, Wildlife OSD Sankaran, Wildlife DCF Anjaneyulu, and other officials also attended the meeting.
