Tiger in Mulugu prefers wild boar over cattle
HYDERABAD: A tiger that trekked nearly 200 km from Chhattisgarh into Telangana as a cub is now showing an unusual preference for wild boar as its main prey in Mulugu district forests.
Mulugu district forest officer Rahul Jadhav said, “Our staff during regular tracking of the tiger keep coming across wild boar carcasses that it has fed on.” Officials compared the tiger’s habit to Obelix from the Asterix comic books, who is known for his fondness for wild boar.
The tiger, believed to be about two-and-a-half years old, left the Pamed wildlife sanctuary in Chhattisgarh. “There is a good prey base in the Mulugu and Mahabubabad forests with plenty of wild boar. For a young tiger that may not have learnt all hunting skills from its mother, it is significant that it has chosen wild prey rather than cattle. In the last nine months, there were just two cattle kills,” Jadhav added.
He said the animal has covered about 1,500 km in its wanderings so far. First sighted in Mulugu district in December 2024, it later moved into Bhadradri Kothagudem district and then returned. Officials now believe it has largely settled in Mulugu, with occasional forays into Mahabubabad.
For now, it remains the only tiger in the Mulugu forests. As it grows older and reaches sexual maturity, forest officials expect it may travel further in search of a mate.
