‘We do not step out after dark’: First tiger spotting near Hyderabad in 50 years puts a district on edge

Locals, already on high alert after losing some farm animals, have been asked not to step out after dark. They have also been given drums to beat to chase away the big cat. “We do not step out after dark anymore; we mostly remain indoors,” Ratnamma, a villager, said. The forest department’s hope is that the tiger will move either towards the Amarabad Tiger Reserve in the south or the Kawal Tiger Reserve in the north.

The tiger’s presence was first discovered by a young villager, Sreenivas, who found a large pug mark in Begumpet, Yadadri. He reverse searched the photograph he took on his phone and found that it could be a tiger’s pug mark. “He was so sure after an online search that he called the forest guards. We went there and ascertained that a tiger was in our midst,” Reddy said. The next day, a calf was found killed in Ibrahimpur village, about 20 kilometres from the site where the first pug mark was found. The kill was, however, left uneaten.

A night patrol team. (Special Arrangement)

Six days after this, no movement was detected. Later, on January 25, in Ralla Janagam village, a calf was killed and eaten. The very next day, three cows were killed in Dattayapalle village. The latest kill occurred on February 3, at Vasanthapuram in Yadadri-Buvanagiri district, where a calf was found mauled to death. “As it was moving north, we felt that it was retreating. There is no habitat for a tiger in our district because there is sparse vegetation,” Sudhakar Reddy said. But luck did not favour them. “We placed camera traps to track the tiger from near its latest kill and captured the animal in action. It ate about 40 kilograms of meat that evening,” Reddy said. In captivity, tigers are fed just 8 kilograms per day.

On an average, a tiger can eat about 10 kilograms of meat and survive. “If it is really hungry, it can eat about 50 kilograms of meat. Then it would go without eating for the next six to seven days,” Reddy said.

The forest department struck out again. Two days later, the tiger killed a calf at the border of Siddipet district, closer to the tiger reserve. “From there, it moved east and pug marks were noticed close to the Jangaon district. The tiger is not showing any signs of returning to Kawal,” the forest officer said. Meanwhile, drones fly over villages in Yadadri to spot the tiger. “We are using drones which can capture thermal imaging to locate the tiger. Animal trackers have also been deployed to see where it is going. We have also placed cages to entrap it,” said Reddy.