The reported sighting of pug marks of a tiger near the forest fringe areas in Gundala forest block in the tribal dominated district prompted the Forest Department personnel to mount vigil in the forest belt to track the movement of the big cat.
Some residents of an interior habitation at Rangapuram in Gundala mandal reportedly found the pug marks of a tiger two days ago. They alerted the Forest Department staff concerned about the suspected movement of a tiger in the vicinity of their forest fringe habitation. Soon the field staff of the department swung into action and set up camera traps at vantage points in the forest area to monitor the movement of the tiger, sources said. The incident sparked fear among local forest dwellers in the wake of the recent tragic incident in which a tribal youth was mauled to death by a tiger in Dahegaon mandal of KB Asifabad district. The pug marks spotted in the Gundala forest area along the inter-district border with Mahabubabad district appears to be that of a tiger, said District Forest Officer Laxman Ranjeet Naik.
We have constituted special teams and installed camera traps to continuously monitor its movement, he told The Hindu. There is no need for panic, he said, adding that an awareness campaign was launched in the forest fringe areas to dissuade people living in the interior habitations from venturing deep into forest areas alone.
