Tigers go missing from Telangana, AP sanctuaries

By TNN | 27 Sept, 2014

HYDERABAD: Poaching continues to be the key threat to tigers in north Telangana and parts of Andhra Pradesh. The big cats are mysteriously disappearing heightening concerns that they are being poached frequently and with impunity.

While officials say three tigers, last spotted in Kawal Tiger Sanctuary in Adilabad, are said to be missing for months now, two tiger skins, one of it of a cub, have been seized in the AP side of the Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve (NSTR).

"We have caught four people, and so far been able to recover two tiger skins from their hideouts. We are on the verge of cracking an organized network involved in tiger poaching," said Rahul Pandey, field director, NSTR (AP).

Pandey said analysis showed that one of the seized skin matched with that of a tiger codenamed 'M7' in the NSTR database of 41 tigers roaming in the jungles. "The other was of a cub, barely six-seven months old, with its nails intact. Since we do not have a database of tiger cubs, it's difficult to identify its origin. Both tigers were poisoned by poachers," he said.

A single tiger skin fetches about Rs 4-5 lakh in the international market, while its nails and teeth are bought for thousands of dollars for their medicinal value in China and Thailand.

Officials in Telangana are a worried lot with recent developments.

The three missing tigers, all females aged under 4, were sighted in Adilabad district between July last year and August this year. The last animal was spotted in Gundala village in August this year which was making its presence felt by attacking cattle.

The other cats were last spotted in Nilwai and Kusnepalli areas.

"Animals frequently come to these areas, but are not tracked all the while. We had sighted three big cats, but lost track of them after a few months. It's highly possible that they have been poached," said a top forest department official.

Activists say that the forest department has not done much when the animals were spotted. "We were aware of the cats' presence as we received information from villagers when they were making their presence felt. They should have been immediately radio-collared to keep track of them. The animals were spotted multiple times and their photos captured. But then they all disappeared," said tiger conservationist Imran Siddiqui of the Hyderabad Tiger Conservation Society.

He said at least three of the animals, barring the tigress Malini, could have been poached. He, however, added that no traces of poaching were found.

"It is not easy for big cats like tigers to fall off the radar. Tigers attacking cattle is bound to bring them in conflict with humans. They were also captured by cameras in the forests. The sudden calm is disquieting," he said.

The disappearance of the animals raises questions about the forest department's functioning and the Telangana government's efforts to protect the endangered species. While efforts were initially made by the Kagaznagar forest division, they did not prove sufficient with the animals eventually going off the radar.

Forest officials said that the four cats were sighted in north Adilabad, but only one of them (Malini) is being tracked.

The missing big cats also bring into question the functioning of the Kawal Tiger Sanctuary and introduction of an extended non-contiguous facility around Kagaznagar forest division, which is known to house tigers moving out from the Kanergaon area of Maharashtra where currently 15 to 20 tigers are said to be thriving.

Animal rights activists say a century ago, about 40,000 tigers roamed the jungles across the country, but now the number is down to just about 3,700.

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