Big cat’s odyssey in Telangana districts for 2 months, yet to find territory

HYDERABAD: A tiger, which had migrated from Tadoba tiger reserve in Maharashtra into Telangana, is moving around for two months in Asifabad and Kumarambheem, searching for a territory.
While the forest department officials, who have named the tiger Asifabad 2 (A2), are confident that the tiger will soon find a territory in the state’s Kawal tiger reserve, concerns are also being raised about the two-lane road at Mancherial and Maharashtra-Telangana border acting as a major obstacle for the big cat to enter Kawal tiger reserve.
“The male tiger A2 is not able to find a place to settle because the territories are occupied by other males. And unfortunately, it has not reached Kawal due to the Mancherial-Chandrapur road. It is not able to cross the road because of constant human activity and traffic. It will be moving until it finds a territory and once it reaches Kawal, it will have a lot of habitat available,” said a source close to the forest department.
The tiger entered Khagaznagar in the state during April by crossing the Pranahitha river.
While confirming that A2 is still on the move for territory, Adilabad divisional forest officer B Prabhakar said: “The tiger has still not reached Kawal. Our field officers are constantly monitoring its movement.”
When asked if the two-lane road is acting as an obstacle for tigers migrating into the state, Prabhakar said: “There is a proposal to make this inter-state road into a four lane and since it is in the tiger corridor, officials from National Tiger Conservation Authority have visited the place to draw up a plan to mitigate the problem in case the road is widened.”
Clearance has been given by Ministry of Environment and Forests for widening a 94.6-km-long stretch of road connecting Mancherial and Chandrapur in Maharashtra from two lanes to four lanes.