Andhra Pradesh: Tiger making ‘wise moves’ to escape attempts to tranquillise it

It succeeds in not walking into the trap laid in Prathipadu area; experts change tack, launch rescue effort at night  

The adult Royal Bengal Tiger is playing hide-and-seek with the wildlife experts, as it appears to have gained complete command over the strange landscape in which it has been making wise moves to escape the attempts to tranquillise it.

The tiger, believed to have attained breeding age, has so far succeeded in not walking into the trap laid for it in the Prathipadu area in Kakinada district.

“The tiger is not making any move during the day time. On Saturday, it preyed on a fresh kill. On Friday night, it returned to the left over kill to devour it. It has apparently sensed our preparedness and left the area immediately,” Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife-Rajahmundry) C. Selvam told The Hindu.

The fresh kill, a buffalo, was reported nearly 1.5-km from the last kill recorded at Uttarakanchi village along the Polavaram project canal.

“We have changed our strategy. We are preparing to carry out rescue operation during the night,” Mr. Selvam said.

The next level of rescue operation was launched on Saturday night under the aegis of the trained rescue team sent by the Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve (NSTR) authorities.

The trained team had prior experience in dealing with the rescue operation carried out in the NSTR. However, the team members would have to gain some clues about the tiger’s behaviour.