Overview
- Forest teams subdued the three-year-old male in a cattle shed at Kurmapuram in Rayavaram mandal around 6.50 p.m. on February 6 after an earlier attempt was thwarted by crowd commotion.
- Officials report the dispersing tiger crossed Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Telangana into Andhra Pradesh and swam two rivers, including the Godavari, covering more than 650 km.
- No human injuries were recorded during its movement, while about eight to nine cattle were killed near Rajahmundry-area villages, prompting school closures and stay-home advisories.
- An NTCA expert committee authorised tranquilisation, with RESQ Trust, HyTICOS, veterinarians and police deploying thermal drones, camera traps, cages and crowd control to track the animal.
- The tiger is under veterinary observation with relocation to a rescue facility such as Visakhapatnam’s IGZP under consideration, as Telangana officials separately monitor another roaming tiger in Jangaon–Yadadri–Siddipet and issue safety advisories.