Wild animals losing lives while searching for water, food

Dornala (Prakasam district): The wild animals in the Nallamala forest are entering into the jaws of death by coming near the human habitations, in search of water and food. One leopard, one tiger cub, two spotted deer and a bear lost their lives in the past one month. However, the forest department officials say that they have already made arrangements for drinking water even in the interior of the forest.

Highlights:

• A leopard, a tiger cub, two spotted deer and a bear lost their lives in past one month
• Forest officials are meeting the locals asking them to be vigilant and are educating them on the protection of wild animals

The Nallamala forest, including the Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve, spreads in Prakasam, Kurnool, Guntur districts of Andhra Pradesh and Mahabubnagar and Nalgonda districts of Telangana. It is the home for a variety of fauna including tiger, leopard, sloth bear, wild dog, pangolin, spotted deer, sambar, mouse deer, black buck, chinkara, chowsinga, porcupine.The interiors of the forest are endowed with perennial waterfalls, tanks and other water resources. The lush greenery, various trees and plants provide food to the animals.

But due to the continuous drought and high temperatures that have been prevailing for the past three to four years, most of the hills lost their greenery. A number of water bodies also started to deplete though the forest department is trying hard to keep water available to the wild animals. Animals like deer and birds like peacocks and hens can be spotted near the ghat roads and at a distance to the habitations, but they do not visit residential area sensing danger from them.

However, in the last few days, wild animals are coming onto the ghat roads at daytime and entering human habitations in search of food and water. A tiger cub died when it was hit by an unknown vehicle on the Srisailam ghat road at Tummalabailu, a sloth bear was crushed to death by another vehicle at Gantavanipalle near Peda Dornala. A leopard was electrocuted in the Velagalapaya village in Ardhaveedu mandal after it tried to enter a farm with electric fence. A spotted deer died in an attack by a pack of stray dogs when it entered Kommunur village in Giddalur mandal and another deer was hit by a vehicle at Diguvametta Tanda near Giddalur.

The Giddalur and Markapur divisional forest officials are meeting the locals and are educating them on protection of wild animals. They are also asking the public to be vigilant as the wild animals may enter the habitations in search of water and food, though they are arranging water sources for the animals in the forest. S Saravanan, field director of Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve, said, “In the Markapur and Atmakur divisions, which are under our jurisdiction, we are arranging saucer pits and filling them with water regularly.

Apart from these artificial arrangements, there are a few perennial waterfalls in the forest which could quench the thirst of wild animals. In other areas of the forest, we have arranged seven solar-powered borewells and took up desilting of tanks to increase the water availability to the animals. We are trying our best with the interventions to provide water to the wild animals and see they do not disturb human beings.”

By Naresh Nandam