Bhubaneswar: Forest Officials have sighted a Royal Bengal Tiger in Mahendra forest on the Andhra Pradesh-Odisha border area in Gajapati district.
The big cat, captured on camera trap deployed by the Forest Department, has now attracted a slew of safety and awareness measures by the Paralakhemundi Divisional Forest Office.
On October 18, the tiger reportedly dragged a cow from a shed in Santoshpur village within the Mahendra-Narayanpur forest range in Rayagada block of the district. Following the incident, the locals are in fear and scared.
However, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Wildlife, Susanta Nanda appealed to the people not to remain in panic and follow the advice of the forest officials.
“As the Tiger Census is underway in the State, tigers and leopards are being trapped in cameras put up at different places. So, there is no need to panic,” Shri Nanda said.
On death of calf/cattle by wild animals, the PCCF (Wildlife) said the State Government is providing Rs 20,000 as compensation to the owners.
Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF), Paralakhemundi, Ashok Behera said the tiger might have entered Gajapati from bordering areas of Andhra Pradesh and preyed on a cow from Analabara village.
“The forest department officials found the pugmarks of the tiger and also recovered the carcass of the cow. In order to confirm the presence of the tiger, we installed five trap cameras in the area and the cameras captured the photographs of the predator,” Shri Behera said.
After getting pictures of a Royal Bengal Tiger, the forest department has deployed five teams consisting of 35 members to alert people living in the bordering areas and instruct them not to step out of their homes at night, the ACF said.
The locals have been advised to tie their cattle to save them from the predator and not to roam outside in the nights, Shri Behera added.