Conservation: Tiger spotted in Kawal reserve of T'gana

While tigers are falling one after another to the in the hands of poachers and inept officials, the conservation efforts of Telangana forest officers seems to have bore fruit as a young male tiger was spotted at the Kadem range of Kawal reserve in Nirmal district.

The images of the tiger were also captured in camera traps recently kept in Kawal core areas as part of phase 3 monitoring prescribed by National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

“It is observed from the image that it is a healthy and robust male tiger, confirming that the tiger is back to Kawal and moving in kadem range at present. Our staff are continuously tracking it and monitoring its movement and planned for creating awareness among the public in the adjoining villages. The presence of tiger shows that the habitat in Kawal has become ideal and support a good population of prey species and co-predators,” Nirmal District Forest Officer (DFO) K. Damodar Reddy said.

The Forest department has carried out habitat improvement works like weed removal for grassland development, improving waterholes besides strict protection measures from poaching in the past few years which yielded well results now. The forest officials have made the area more habitable for tigers for the past few years, by developing grasslands and providing water holes. Earlier they used to venture into human habitat for shelter and water during severe summertime becoming an easy target to irate mobs.

Field Director Chandrasekhar Saravanan in a statement says that the Tiger might have come a visit from Tippeshwar wildlife sanctuary or Tadoba national park of Maharashtra. After the tiger was spotted the forest rangers are keeping an eye on its movement and also are in touch with the villagers of nearby villages creating awareness.