Telangana: 20-member poaching gang behind tigress K8’s death, say Forest officials

Five poachers detained with tiger’s nails, skin; K8 has become the third tiger to be poached in erstwhile Adilabad district in just 17 months

Kumram Bheem Asifabad: What began as the discovery of the carcass of an unidentified wild animal that was electrocuted is slowly turning out to be a major expose of the audacious manner in which a well-organised, expert gang of poachers are targeting tigers at their will right from under the nose of the Telangana Forest Department.

As on Tuesday, the latest poaching incident has seen five poachers being detained with Forest officials confirming that a gang of at least 20 notorious poachers were involved in the killing of tigress K8 before skinning it and pulling out the nails and other valuable parts that command high prices in the illegal wildlife market.

The disturbing episode, which is turning out to be a major embarrassment for the Forest Department, began unfolding with the discovery of the decomposed carcass of a wild animal on the outskirts of Yellur village in Penchikalpet mandal of Kumram Bheem Asifabad district last Thursday.

Initially, officials struggled to confirm whether the carcass was of a tiger. Now, officials have confirmed that it was a tigress, titled K8, after they seized nails of the tiger from the accused, who are from Chinnaraspelli and Penchikalpet mandal centre. Officials have also recovered the tiger skin that was buried by the hunters in a plantation of eucalyptus trees near Penchikalpet mandal headquarters. Equipment used to hunt the tiger has also been seized.

With this, K8 has become the third tiger to be poached in the erstwhile Adilabad district in just 17 months. Before her, carcasses of two tigers were found in the forests of Darigaon village in Kagaznagar mandal on January 6 and 8, 2024. Initially, officials suspected that the cause of the deaths could be a territorial fight. However, it was later discovered that the second tiger was poisoned and the culprits were subsequently arrested. Similarly, over five tigers were poached in the neighbouring Mancherial, Nirmal and Adilabad districts in the last few years. The consecutive deaths of the tigers have exposed lapses in tiger conservation efforts, with officials drawing flak for failing to protect the tigers even after spending huge amounts in the Kawal Tiger Reserve every year.

Kumram Bheem Asifabad, regarded as a breeding zone of tigers, witnessed the birth of 35 cubs to various tigers from 2016 to 2024. However, around 10 tigers have gone missing from the forests of erstwhile Adilabad district already, with three of them being cubs of the famous tigress Phalguna. Interestingly, though National Tiger Conservation Authority officials had stressed on the setting up of a Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF) for Kawal and Amrabad tiger reserves, the Forest department has been dragging its feet on the same.

In the latest poaching incident, officials said on Tuesday that notorious 20 poachers were involved in the crime. Five of them are in custody, with the seizures and recovery of the tiger skin being based on information given by them during interrogation. Shockingly, the accused have admitted that they set up an electric snare using power tapped from the NPDCL’s electricity lines passing through the forest. The crime was committed at a spot where, officials say, the poachers have so far eliminated at least 100 wild animals using electric snares, all using stolen electricity from the government’s distribution network. The gang is said to have links to other poaching networks in the neighbouring Maharashtra, indicating that the threat to tigers in Telangana was much bigger and real than thought.

With three tigers killed since January 2024, the May 15 incident has reaffirmed that the Forest department needs to act fast, and with an iron hand to protect the tigers.