Saved from mistaken identity, striped hyena now under the watchful eyes of forest department

HYDERABAD: A hyena, mistaken for a tiger that sent villagers at

Gollabavi

in

Bejjur

mandal scrambling initially on Wednesday morning, resulted in a posse of policemen along with forest department officials guarding it from a mob of nearly 300 to 400 people for several hours. It was only after the people left late in the afternoon that the officials relaxed a bit but continued the vigil late into the night to ensure safe passage for the animal. After receiving reports in the morning that a tiger was sighted near Gollabavi tank, forest department officials rushed to the spot and later found that it was a striped

hyena

that took shelter under a culvert.

Nearly 30 forest department officials along with policemen had to push people away from the culvert to control the situation. “Had we not done that, they would have probably killed it,” forest range officer M

Ram Mohan

told TOI. “For all we know, the hyena may be using the pipe that forms the culvert as a den. There may be a pup too. We have placed two camera traps on both sides of the culvert to grab some images when the animal moves out. And if turns out to be a den, then we will have to take measures to allow it to raise the pup safely,” Ram Mohan said. He said they would monitor the movements of the hyena for the next four days to ensure its safety.

“And since hyenas are normally nocturnal, we plan to have a guard all night and not allow people near the culvert,” he said. Hope is that the animal will leave once there is no further disturbance from people sometime late in the night.

Asked about the situation at Gollabavi, principal chief conservator of forests PK Jha said the first thing for people to do when confronted with a wild animal is to inform the forest department or police. “The animal should be left alone. People should not throw things like stones or sticks at the animal which will only agitate it. As soon as we receive information, our staff will take the necessary action depending on the situation,” he said.

Jha also said anyone with information about wild animals straying into villages or towns can call wild life crime bureau number 18004255364.

“In situations like these, the police should immediately impose Section 144 to prevent gathering of people who might harm the animals,”

Imran Siddiqui

, a scientist with

Wildlife Conservation Society

said. This will allow the animal to move away on its own or the forest department to take action without stressing either the animal or people, he added.

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