HYDERABAD: For the second time in a decade, Kawal Tiger Reserve, one of the two such sanctuaries in Telangana, has gone "tigerless" with forest department officials having no clue about what happen

Kawal measures around 2,000 sq. km in area but has just around 30-40 base camps with four-five unarmed guards.

Barely a few months after tigers returned to the Kawal Tiger Reserve (KTR) after many years, the big cats and other wild animals in the reserve are set to face increased threats from vehicular traf

Two tigers in core area and four to five in the buffer zone.

Relocation of a few tribal villages from the Kawal Tiger Reserve (KTR) in Adilabad district as an important measure towards improvement of the habitat has once again come to the fore following the

Heavy vehicles defy ban, disturb wildlife

Heavy vehicle movement continues unregulated through Kawal Tiger Reserve despite the decision on its ban taken at a meeting of the State Board for Wildlife headed by Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy late in January this year.

“The wild tiger continues to remain endangered the world over”

As many as 32 tigers have died this year, even as latest official data showed an increase in the population estimates of the big cats. Of these, 18 were natural deaths, Environment and Forests Minister Jayanthi Natarajan said. Expressing concern over the endangered status of the tiger the world over, Ms. Natarajan on Tuesday said the Ministry was looking into the reasons for the deaths.

According to the 2010 Wildlife Institute census, the state had 72 tigers and this excluded an estimated 15 tiger cubs. The state, on the other hand, boasted of a much larger figure — 105 tigers just a decade ago.

Speaking to media persons here on Thursday, the principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF), Mr Hitesh Malhotra, said that the tiger population is reducing in the Godavari region due to widespread destruction of their habitat.

In a significant step, the state government on Tuesday notified Kawal Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve despite serious objections from pro-Telangana political parties. The core area of the Kawal tiger reserve has been declared as 892 square kilometer with a buffer zone of 1123 sq. km which falls under Adilabad district. Approximately 21 habitations within the buffer zone are excluded from the tiger reserve.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) will start conducting its annual estimation of tigers in Kawal and Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam tiger reserve (NSTR) along with other tiger reserves in