HYDERABAD: A tiger named ‘Gabbar’ from Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary (TWS) in Yavatmal of Maharashtra was sighted near Bheempur mandal in Adilabad district, making it the first tiger sighting in the region after a year.
The three-year-old sub-adult was identified as Gabbar of Pilkhan family from TWS by wildlife photographer S Ajinder Singh after forest officials shared a camera trap image of the big cat with him a few days ago.
Singh, who has been closely monitoring the migration pattern of big cats from Maharashtra to Telangana, said Gabbar has crossed the Penganga river, which acts as border between both the states. It was identified by a distinctive stripe pattern on one of its legs. From Bheempur, it has now moved into Penganga Wildlife Sanctuary (PWS) in Maharashtra, which is also a part of the tiger corridor that eventually leads Kawal Tiger Reserve (KTR). “Now that it has entered PWS, there are chances that it might find its own territory in this particular forest which is about 400 square kilometres but it is more likely that it will come face to face with another male tiger that is currently in that area and get into a territorial fight. If there is a conflict, the loser will move out of the forest and naturally advance towards KTR,” Singh said.
Once it heads south, the tiger will proceed towards Kawal by passing through Bazarhathnoor, Ichhoda and Nirmal. “This is a very healthy tiger corridor between TWS and Kawal if the movement of the tiger is monitored properly. If there are no obstructions in the corridor, chances are that the big cat can reach KTR within 20 to 25 days from PWS,” said Singh.
Last year, a tiger named ‘i’ from Tipeshwar Tiger Reserve was also sighted near Bheempur mandal and stayed in a non-forest area of Adilabad for nearly 14 months. Although it was expected to head towards the Kawal reserve, it eventually settled in PWS, forest officials said.
“So far, we do not have any direct evidence of tiger movement in Telangana. We will definitely start monitoring its movement once we know for sure that there is a tiger in our corridor,” said V Chandrasekhar Rao, forest divisional officer, Adilabad.
