Fresh pugmarks indicate 4YO male tiger heading towards Vizianagaram

Visakhapatnam: The pugmarks of a four-year-old male adult tiger were found on the evening of 22 July at Ellippi reserve forest in Visakhapatnam division. The animal made an unsuccessful attempt to kill the cattle but the cattle escaped. Bite marks on the cattle confirmed the attack.

The tiger's pugmarks found near Ellippi show it is moving towards the Vizianagaram district. DFO of Vizianagaram and forest officials have been alerted. As there was no update on the movement of the tiger on 23 July, tracking teams of the forest department are on the field and patrolling to track and locate signs of the tiger's movement.

The forest officials are consulting experts from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and experts from Dudhva Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh on different ways to trap the tiger.

According to the DFO Visakhapatnam, Anant Shankar, the stray tiger stayed near the Chintalapalern village under K Kothapadu mandal in Anakapalli district for four nights from 17 to 21 July. It killed an adult cow and stayed in the proximity of the kill for four nights. It was captured on the camera traps installed near the kill. A machan was also constructed near the kill on 17 July.

"Movements show that the tiger is aware of human presence and is shy and so avoids humans. Cage traps were also put up near the kill site and live baits were put up along with special luring mixtures to attract the tiger inside the cage. But the attempts were unsuccessful," said Mr. Shankar.