Hyderabad: The discovery of a dead gaur (Indian bison) close to railway tracks in Bhadradri Kothagudem district has set off concern among forest officials who have said that they will take up the issue of wildlife safety along railway tracks with the Singareni Collieries Company Limited in the district.
The gaur, a male and believed to be around five years old, is believed to have died after being hit by a coal carrying train from the SCCL mines in Manuguru sometime on Tuesday evening. This is likely the first known incident of a Gaur being killed after being hit by a train, officials said.
Bhadadri Kothadugem district has a population of nearly 2,000 gaur, a species protected under the Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act. A bulk of this population, nearly 1,900 live in the Kinnerasani Wildlife Sanctuary in the district.
This is the second death of a gaur in Telangana this year. Another gaur, that had strayed into Yadadri-Bhongir district this January, died after rescue attempts by tranquilising it went awry near Chinnakondur village in the district.
The location of Tuesday’s incident is close to Kinnerasani and there is a regular movement of trains carrying coal from the SCCL mines. It is suspected that the animal may have been in search of water when it was crossing the tracks and was hit by the train. The incident occurred late evening, an official said.
Since there is a lot of movement of trains carrying coal, forest officials said they will take up the issue of wildlife crossing the railway tracks both with the SCCL and the railways to work out a system of likely safety measures for wild animals crossing the tracks.