U Sudhakar Reddy
HYDERABAD: Around 15 to 20 tigers have been missing for years from Telangana’s northern tiger corridors, covering Kagaznagar, Asifabad, and Mancherial regions, claim wildlife activists.
Prominent names such as Chaitra, Vaishaka, and Phalguna have not been seen since 2013, they claim. In Jan 2024, an adult tiger and a sub-adult were found poisoned to death in Kagaznagar. Two more of the same family are still missing. Wildlife activists claim only four to five tigers remain in Kagaznagar, that once had at least 15.
The forest department’s response to these claims is mixed. “There’s no problem in Amrabad Tiger Reserve,” said a forest official on condition of anonymity, “but in areas outside reserves, we see tigers disappearing”.
Telangana’s principal chief conservator of forests, R M Dobriyal, said, “The tigers are there. Some have migrated to Maharashtra and some have returned around Kawal. Recently, we recorded a cattle kill in Kagaznagar so we know there are at least five tigers there.”
The forest department says their absence was potentially due to gaps in camera trap coverage.
However, state’s chief wildlife warden Elusing Meru said, “It is a fact that there are no resident tigers at present but we are hoping that the inviolate areas created by relocation of two villages recently will make it an ideal habitat.”
“In Adilabad, Tiryani, and Chennur, we saw about five tigers. But the tigers in Kawal Tiger Reserve have vanished over the years,” said an official from Aranya Bhavan.