Second tiger killed in Kawal in one month; three arrested

HYDERABAD: Poachers seem to have had a free run at Kawal tiger reserve in Adilabad with NGO activists helping forest officials nab the men who killed a young tiger in the past fortnight. Activists and officers also recovered the tiger skin that the poachers were trying to sell.
This is the second tiger to be killed in the reserve in less than a month.On Jan 6, Telangana’s forest officials, along with the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and Traffic India, had seized a tiger skin in Kawal reserve’s core area, leading to the arrest of nine people who had electrocuted the big cat. Officials say that at least 11 tigers are missing from the Kawal reserve and now fear that others too may have been killed.
The latest instance was exposed on Thursday evening after activists of the NGO Tiger Hunting End Association (THEA), with the help of foresters, approached the poachers as prospective buyers wanting a tiger skin to perform pooja. The poachers were demanding more than Rs 1lakh for the skin.
Mancherial forest divisional officer J Venkateshwara Rao told TOI, “The NGO approached the poachers as part of a sting operation. They were in a house along with one of the poachers and other gang members were standing guard outside. As we approached the house, those standing guard escaped. We nabbed one of the gang members in the house. He has identified himself as Mekala Narsaiah, a resident of Ramaraopalli. Based on his call data and mobile phone records we are tracking others.”
Killed tiger being identified
Mancherial forest officials seized the skin from the house of one Ilaveni Anjaiah in Mandamarri village of Mancherial.
Key accused Anjaiah is on the run. Ilaveni Shyam, Anjaiah’s son, and one Beechupalli Komaraiah have also been picked up on suspicion of being involved in the poaching.
Forest officials are taking the help of Ramagundam police commissionarate task force sleuths to interrogate Mekala Narsaiah. They are verifying if the male tiger was a sub-adult born to tigress Phalguna. Officials are also studying the stripes.
THEA president Nandu Pimple, who led the sting operation, told TOI, “we started the operation two days ago. We reached the sellers through a network of mediators. With the help of foresters, we conducted the operation on Thursday. In various operations since 2008, we have helped seize 75 tiger skins.”
Three leopards have also been poached in the past 15 days in the region. The Telangana government has only recently decided to form a tiger protection task force for the state to act against poachers, but it is yet to become functional.