Tiger tale: Life in the territory of fear in Andhra Pradesh

Lying snug to the Kannapuram Forest Range, Dippakayalapadu in Koyyalagudem mandal of Eluru district is a small village where tobacco fields stretch as far as eyes can reach. January-February is the harvesting season of the crop, usually marked by feverish activities in barns as local farmers hire agricultural workers from Guntur, Prakasam and even from Maharashtra and Telangana for the curing of tabacco leaves.

In the last week of January, however, the fields fell suddenly silent, conspicuous only by a skeletal crew of workers going about their work, nervousness heavy on their faces. The reason: there was a tiger in the neighbourhood, a sub-adult male of four years that began killing cattle in the region since January 22.

A native of the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, it was sighted for the first time in Andhra Pradesh near Pandirimamidigudem of Eluru district around January 20-21. A week later, in the early hours of January 26, the big cat killed a buffalo in the oil palm grove belonging to Vivekananda Kakarla at Billimilli village near Dippakayalapdu. Two hours later, between 5 and 6 a.m., the tiger attacked two cows in the tobacco field of 58-year-old farmer Geda Satyanarayana at Dippakayalapadu, killing one and injuring another. The back-to-back killings kicked off a maelstrom of panic among the villagers and confusion among forest officials regarding the animal’s strange behaviour.

Eluru District Forest Officer, Territorial, P.V. Sandeep Reddy says that while winter is considered the season for young tiger dispersal, what is peculiar is that this particular big cat killed an average two heads of cattle every night over the past two weeks — 14 in Eluru district and six in East Godavari district. While the frequent cattle depredation was a puzzle to the Forest officials, it was a crushing blow to dairy farmers.

A cow that was injured in a tiger attack at Dippakayalapadu village in Koyyalagudem mandal of Eluru district. The incident occurred when the animal was grazing near agricultural fields close to the forest area.
| Photo Credit:
G.N. Rao

As of Thursday (February 5), the tiger was wandering around Rajamahendravaram city outskirts. It is believed to have left its native habitat with another male tiger on December 14, 2025. Currently, around 100 forest officials are monitoring its movements, with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) having constituted a committee to decide on whether to tranquilise it.

A tobacco season crushed

The fear that gripped the villages in the tobacco-rich mandals of Koyyalagudem and Buttayagudem crippled the livelihoods of tobacco farmers and agricultural labourers. “For three days, not a single worker came to my field. A 3-4 day delay in harvesting the crop can lead to leaves ripening, which, in turn, can impact its quality after the curing,” says Satyanarayana, who grows FCV (Flue-Cured Virginia) tobacco on 50 acres on the outskirts of Dippakayalapadu.

Agricultural labourers working in a tobacco field at Dippakayalapadu village in Koyalagudem mandal of Eluru district.
| Photo Credit:
G.N. Rao

Ratna Alluri, a farmer from Buttayagudem mandal who grows FCV tobacco on 25 acres, says the fear was more pronounced in his area, as agricultural labourers did not appear for work for a week. While a tobacco plant has 20 leaves, this year, owing to weather, there are only 18. Of these, 4-5 leaves have been affected, or ripened, owing to the delay.

This is no small matter for the farmers, for every leaf ripened is money lost for them. Last year, low-grade FCV tobacco fetched an average Rs.120 a kg while high-grade tobacco fetched Rs. 300 a kg, says Vivekananda, who is also a member of International Tobacco Growers’ Association (ITGA). “But, we couldn’t force anyone to come; we were all scared,” he adds.

Some labourers, however, did not have the luxury of staying back and had to turn up for work. Removing weeds from around a tobacco plant, Karam Bheemamma says she came to work because she cannot afford to lose her wages of Rs. 300 a day. A tribeswoman, Bheemamma travels 15 km from her hamlet deep inside the forest to Dippakayalapadu. She makes sure that she is joined by at least six other women for the trip.

According to district agri officer, 8,750 farmers are engaged in FCV tobacco production in the district, and most fall in Jangareddygudem revenue division, of which Koyyalagudem and Buttayagudem are part. As per initial estimates, Vivekananda says, 110 farmers would have suffered losses anywhere between Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 60,000 per barn owing to the temporary pause in their work.

“After plantation, it takes around 60 days for the crop to reach the harvesting phase. The last 20 days are crucial, and we have to keep a constant check on the leaves and use manure, if needed. It is during this phase that the tiger entered the villages, derailing our schedules,” explains Mr. Vivekananda.

Keeping life on track

After the two incidents, villagers stayed alert for three nights, going around the village carrying sticks and torches to scare off the animal. The Forest officials suggested that livestock be taken close to owners’ houses. The farmers, however, say it’s a tough task for them and the cattle to walk long distances every day for grazing.

Farmers placing calves in a iron enclosure to protect them from tiger attack, at Dippakayalapadu village in Koyyalagudem mandal of Eluru district.
| Photo Credit:
G.N. Rao

A few kilometers away, at Vankabotthepagudem, a small village near Koyyalagudem belonging to the Koya tribe, desperation weighs down on its 200 residents. Most are agricultural labourers working the tobacco fields of big farmers. Around 15 of them have cattle, and a handful have an acre or two.

“The skyrocketing tenancy rates, around Rs. 70,000 an acre, in the region have kept us from taking agricultural land on rent. We can either work as labourers or depend on dairy farming for our livelihood. We get Rs.40 a litre at the paalu kendram. Now, that livelihood is also being threatened,” says Kaniki Manga, with a helpless laughter. As she speaks, other villagers join her in echoing their concerns.

DFO Sandeep Reddy says an assessment is yet to be made on the amount of compensation to be paid to the dairy farmers. He estimates the compensation to be around Rs. 4 lakh in total.

What future holds

Vignesh Appavu, Deputy Director, Project Tiger Division, Atmakur, says human-tiger interactions are not uncommon. Conservation efforts and anti-poaching activities have led to an increase in tiger population, meaning tigers are looking for new territories. Andhra Pradesh has 63 tigers, according to the census held in 2022.

Not all such interactions, however, become conflicts. That happens when there is a loss on either side, he says. In Eluru district, this is the second time over the past two years that a tiger has wandered into a human habitation, according to sources. There had been no damage earlier. DFO Sandeep Reddy recalls that a tiger was sighted in the district every 1.5 to 2 years.

The tiger with its kill caught in a camera trap of the Forest department in Eluru district of Andhra Pradesh.
| Photo Credit:
G.N. Rao

Tigers are shy animals and instances of them attacking humans are rare. “If we look at the database in Andhra Pradesh, the chart of wildlife attacks on humans is topped by sloth bears, followed by elephants and then leopards,” Vignesh Appavu explains, adding that tigers come at the bottom of the list.

In this particular case, the tiger, has presented a different behaviour by making many cattle kills. Usually, cattle is an easy prey for tigers, which turn to them if they are weak or have poor hunting skills. “From our observations, this tiger doesn’t seem to have any physical deformities. It looks like that the tiger has gotten used to killing cattle. Which is why, even after it left towards the Papikonda National Park (PNP), it returned after two days,” Sandeep Reddy says. The PNP has enough prey base, comprising spotted deer, sambar deer and gaur, he says.

“This tiger doesn’t seem to have any physical deformities. It looks like that the tiger has gotten used to killing cattle. Which is why, even after it left towards the Papikonda National Park (PNP), it returned after two days.”P.V. Sandeep ReddyEluru District Forest Officer, Territorial

Divergent behaviour
In the bi-monthly journal STRIPES, brought out by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), authors Anchal Bhasin and Genie Murao of an article titled ‘Beyond the Reserves: The Dispersing Tigers of India’s Wild Landscapes’ say that the dispersing tiger is essentially searching for three things: space, food, and mates. “When its natal forest is saturated with tigers, dispersal becomes the only way to survive. If prey is scarce, the animal must seek areas with adequate prey populations,” they write.

At first, the tiger did not make any markings to assert its territory, leading the officials to think that it would be a case of temporary migration, but Sandeep Reddy says they found tree scrapings later, which has left them confused. The officer also ruled out scarcity of prey, adding that there is plenty of space and prey for tigers in A.P.

This is not the first tiger to be going to the PNP. In May 2022, a three-year-old tiger, believed to be a native of the Brahmapuri area in the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve landscape, wandered across the landscape between the PNP, S. Kota in Vizianagaram district and Narsipatnam in the Visakhapatnam agency The Forest department, however, ended monitoring its movements after it entered the PNP.

Then another male tiger, spotted in Eluru district two years ago, too, entered PNP after crossing the river Godavari from the Telangana border. The Forest department said it found no data regarding its native habitat.

Explaining the trend, a wildlife expert working on tiger landscapes in A.P. and Telangana, says nearly 600 km of landscape between Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve and the PNP has become a ‘functional corridor’ for tigers over the past five years.

“Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are working together in monitoring tiger movements in their States. A similar coordinated effort among A.P,, Telangana and Chhattisgarh should be in place to monitor tigers in the functional corridor. In A.P., the PNP has an abundant prey base and will become home for tigers in the Eastern Ghats,” the expert says, seeking anonymity.

So far, however, there is no data on the number of tigers in the PNP. In 2016, three tigers were recorded by the Forest department in the PNP. While the NTCA conducted a tiger census in 2018 and 2022, it did not disclose the number of tigers inhabiting the PNP, which was declared a national park in 2008. A portion of the PNP has been diverted for the construction of the Polavaram Irrigation and hydro-power project on the Godavari river.

DFO Sandeep Reddy says there is an opinion that a tiger reserve status should be given to the national park, so that the department can increase conservation efforts and ensure that the habitat fragmentation does not happen.

The first step, however, is paying compensation to dairy farmers to ensure that there is no retaliatory killing, says Vignesh Appavu.

(With inputs from T. Appala Naidu)