Tiger Tale: Life in the Zone of Fear in Andhra Pradesh

Deeppakayalapadu, located near the Kannapuram forest range in Koyyalagudem mandal of Eluru district, is a small village with tobacco fields stretching as far as the eye can see. January–February is the harvesting season, usually marked by hectic activities in the barns as local farmers hire farm workers from Guntur, Prakasam and even from Maharashtra and Telangana to cure tobacco leaves.

However, in the last week of January, the fields suddenly became quiet, with only a small contingent of workers going about their work, and with a look of great panic on their faces. Reason: There was a tiger in the neighbourhood, a sub-adult male of four years, which had started killing cattle in the area since January 22.

Native to the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, it was first spotted in Andhra Pradesh around January 20–21 near Pandiramamidigudem in Eluru district. A week later, in the early hours of 26 January, the big cat killed a buffalo in the oil palm orchard of Vivekananda Kakarla in Bilimili village near Dippakayalapadu. Two hours later, between 5 and 6 am, the tiger attacked two cows in the tobacco field of 58-year-old farmer Geda Satyanarayana in Dippakayalapadu, killing one and injuring the other. The back-to-back killings spread panic among the villagers and created confusion among forest officials over the strange behavior of the animal.

Eluru District Forest Officer, Territorial, PV Sandeep Reddy, says winter is considered the season of dispersal of young tigers, but what is strange is that this particular big cat killed an average of two cattle every night in the last two weeks – 14 in Eluru district and six in East Godavari district. While the continued killing of cattle was a puzzle for forest officials, it was a blow to dairy farmers.

Till Thursday (February 5), the tiger was roaming on the outskirts of Rajamahendravaram city. It is believed to have left its native habitat along with another male tiger on December 14, 2025. Currently, around 100 forest officials are monitoring its activities, with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) forming a committee to decide on culling it.

a tobacco season crushed

The fear that prevailed in the villages of the tobacco-rich mandals of Koyyalagudem and Buttayagudem crippled the livelihoods of tobacco farmers and agricultural labourers. “For three days, not a single laborer came to my field. A delay of 3-4 days in harvesting can cause the leaves to ripen, which, in turn, can affect its quality after curing,” says Satyanarayana, who grows FCV (flue-cured Virginia) tobacco in 50 acres on the outskirts of Dippakayalapadu.

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

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

However, some workers did not have lodging facilities and had to come to work. Removing weeds from around a tobacco plant, Karam Bhimamma says she came to work because she couldn’t afford to lose her Rs 100 wages. Rs 300 per day. Bhimamma is a tribal woman and travels 15 km from her hamlet deep in the forest to Dippakayalapadu. She ensures that at least six other women join her on the trip.

According to the District Agriculture 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. Vivekananda says that according to preliminary estimates, 110 farmers would have suffered a loss of about Rs 200 crore. 10,000 and Rs. 60,000 per barn due to temporary interruption in their work.

“After plantation, it takes about 60 days for the crop to reach the harvesting stage. The last 20 days are crucial, and we have to constantly monitor the leaves and apply fertilizer if necessary. It is during this stage that the tiger entered the villages, derailing our programme,” explains Mr Vivekananda.

keep life on track

After the two incidents, villagers remained on alert for three nights and roamed around the village carrying sticks and torches to scare away the animal. Forest officials suggested that the animals be moved closer to the owners’ homes. However, farmers say that traveling long distances every day for grazing is a tough task for them and the cattle.

A few kilometers away, Vankabotthepagudem, a small village of the Koya tribe near Koyalagudem, is burdened with desperation on its 200 residents. Most are agricultural laborers who work in the tobacco fields of larger farmers. About 15 of them have cattle, and a handful have an acre or two.

“Skyrocketing tenancy rates in the area, around Rs 70,000 per acre, have prevented us from renting agricultural land. We can either work as laborers or depend on dairy farming for our livelihood. We get Rs 40 per litre.” palu kendram. Now, that livelihood is also under threat,” says Kaneki Manga with a helpless laugh. As she speaks, other villagers join her in expressing their concerns.

DFO Sandeep Reddy says that the amount of compensation to be given to dairy farmers has not been assessed yet. He estimates the compensation to be around Rs. 4 lakhs in total.

what is the future

Vignesh Appavu, deputy director of Project Tiger Division, Atmakur, says man-tiger interactions are not unusual. Conservation efforts and anti-poaching activities have led to an increase in tiger populations, meaning tigers are looking for new areas. According to the census conducted in 2022, there are 63 tigers in Andhra Pradesh.

However, not all such interactions become conflicts. He says, this happens when there is loss on both sides. According to sources, in Eluru district, this is the second time in the last two years that a tiger has strayed into a human habitation. There was no damage before. DFO Sandeep Reddy recalls that a tiger was sighted in the district every one and a half to two years.

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

In this particular case, the tiger has presented a different behavior by killing several cattle. Typically, cattle are an easy prey for tigers, who turn to them when they are weak or have poor hunting skills. Sandeep Reddy says, “From our observation, there does not appear to be any physical deformity in this tiger. It seems that the tiger has got used to killing cattle. That is why even after moving towards Papikonda National Park (PNP), it returned after two days.” He says the PNP has an adequate hunting base, which includes spotted deer, sambar deer and gaur.

different behavior
in bi-monthly magazine stripesAanchal Bhasin and Jinny Murao, authors of the article titled ‘Beyond the Reserves: The Dispersing Tigers of India’s Wild Landscapes’ published by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), say that a dispersing tiger is essentially looking for three things: space, food and mate. They write, “When its birthplace becomes overrun with tigers, dispersal becomes the only way to survive. If prey is scarce, the animal must seek areas with adequate prey populations.”

At first, the tiger made no marks to claim its territory, leading officials to think it might be a case of temporary migration, but Sandeep Reddy says they later found tree trunks, which left them confused. The official also denied lack of prey and said there was plenty of space and prey for tigers in Andhra Pradesh.

This is not the first tiger to go to the PNP. In May 2022, a three-year-old tiger, believed to be native to the Brahmapuri area in the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve landscape, roamed across the landscape between PNP, S Kota in Vizianagaram district and Narsipatnam in Visakhapatnam Agency. However, the Forest Department stopped monitoring its activities after it entered the PNP.

Then two years ago, another male tiger seen in Eluru district also entered PNP after crossing the Godavari river from the Telangana border. The forest department said it could not find any data regarding its native habitat.

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

“Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are working together to monitor tiger movements in their states. There should be a similar coordinated effort between AP, Telangana and Chhattisgarh to monitor tigers in the functional corridor. In AP, the PNP has abundant prey base and the Eastern Ghats will become home to tigers,” says the expert on condition of anonymity.

However, there is no data on the number of tigers in the PNP yet. In 2016, three tigers were recorded in the PNP by the Forest Department. While the NTCA conducted tiger censuses in 2018 and 2022, it did not disclose the number of tigers living in 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-electric Project on the Godavari River.

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

However, the first step is to compensate dairy farmers to ensure there are no reprisal killings, says Vignesh Appavu.

(With inputs from T. Appala Naidu)