The Forest Department has sounded an alert for the tribals on the movement of a tiger in the V.R. Puram reserve forest in East Godavari district.
The alert was issued after a tiger was sighted by a tribal man on January 20, and its pug marks were recorded by the forest officials during a preliminary investigation.
As on Saturday, the tiger is believed to be moving near the Godavari and Sabari rivers, some 20 km away from the Papikonda National Park (PNP), in V.R. Puram mandal in Chintoor Agency.
“Two teams of guards are monitoring the tiger movements in the reserve forest. The tiger has ventured out from the deep forests in search of prey but did not return to its habitat,” Divisional Forest Officer (DFO-Chintoor) V. Saibaba told The Hindu .
“The tribals have been cautioned against venturing into the forest for a few days as the tiger is reportedly moving near habitations. Compensation for cattle loss (if any) will be provided to tribals,” said Mr. Saibaba, who is overseeing an exercise undertaken to track the movements of the tiger.
The forest authorities have also installed CC traps in strategic locations to trace the tiger.
The tiger estimate exercise under the aegis of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is in progress in PNP that straddles East and West Godavari districts.
