‘Operation Stripes’ put on hold as starving Explorer stranded in a stone quarry

A male tiger, Explorer, photographed before it was reintroduced into the wild in Papikonda National Park on February 16. | Photo Credit: File photo

The Andhra Pradesh State Wildlife Department on Sunday put the search for the 3.5-year-old male tiger, Explorer, on hold temporarily, citing challenges in accessing the spots where the big cat is stranded. However, the department officials believe that it was stranded in the heart of the Dhecherla stone quarry block.

The move comes two days after the government resumed the ‘Operation Stripes’, a wildlife conservation and rescue initiative by the Andhra Pradesh government to relocate the transient tiger which migrated from Tadoba-Andhari tiger reserve in Maharashtra.

By Sunday evening, the big cat was stranded in a mango orchard that is nestled between stone-crushing units and man-made ponds near Dhecherla in East Godavari district. Any further move from the current location would spell a threat to its survival, given the risks involved in walking through the stone crushing units.