A tiger has attacked livestock in the Garhwa Southern Forest Area, marking its ninth victim in daylight.
On Monday morning, at around 10 AM, the tiger wandered near Ramkanda, Bhandaria, Bargrh, and Ranka, killing a livestock owned by local resident Surendra Korwa. The herder had let his animals graze in the open sun, sending them towards the forest. Villagers saw the livestock running wildly and went to check, only to find the tiger eating its kill. The tiger ran away when it saw the villagers.
Notably, just last Friday, the same tiger killed a cow in Bideshi in Ramkanda. The Thursday before, it had attacked a buffalo in the Bhandaria forest, killing one and injuring another before heading about 15 km back into the dense jungles of Bageshi. The tiger had also killed another livestock near the village outskirts when villagers approached.
In the past week, the tiger has reportedly killed four buffalo in Nauka village within the Bhandaria forest area, and one in Sangali village in the Palamu Tiger Reserve, as well as another in Baherakhad. Another buffalo was injured in a different incident.
After these troubling events, PTR officials and the Garhwa Forest Department are tracking the tiger. They have set up ten trapping cameras in the Kutku range to capture images of it. Despite these efforts, the tiger continues to hunt livestock in the wild areas along Ramkanda Bhandaria's borders.
Forest officials confirmed that they found tiger footprints in the Tetradih forests of Ramkanda. Forest guard Kamlesh Kumar said the footprints belong to the tiger, likely heading towards Bageshi, but no signs of its return have been seen. To respond to the tiger's presence, the forest department is running awareness campaigns and advising locals to keep away from the forests. Local leaders Lalita Lakra and Binod Prasad have also placed temporary bans on forest access for their communities, noting that areas around Birajpur and Baligarh Panchayats are especially at risk of tiger attacks and damage from elephants and leopards.
Ebin Benny Abraham, the DFO of the Southern Forest Area, confirmed that trapping cameras are being set up to monitor the tiger. He mentioned that they are also working to inform and protect the local people and that compensation has been given to the affected livestock herder.
