Royal Bengal tiger treks 150km from Panna, spotted in Bundelkhand

JHANSI: Panic gripped the inhabitants of the villages on Mahoba-Hamirpur border in UP when they spotted a tiger in the fields on Friday afternoon. A resident of Gheodi village clicked the big cat and informed police and the local administration. Forest department officials swiftly rushed to the spot and set up a camp in the village and launched surveillance to ensure safety of villagers.
Chief conservator of forests, Bundelkhand range, Pinaki Singh, told TOI, “It’s a Royal Bengal tiger which trekked more than 150km from Panna tiger reserve along the banks of Ken river. It’s our national animal and comes under Schedule I of Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Our team is camping here to rescue the tiger and take it back to the sanctuary. We have arranged cages from Kanpur for the rescue operation. This is first time that a Royal Bengal tiger has ventured in this area.”
“The pugmarks lifted from the agricultural fields and the photos, though taken from a distance, suggest that it’s a sub-adult tiger, which may have just weaned off from its mother. And, in the process of survival and developing a territory, it has strayed a considerable distance. Generally, big cats like tiger move along river banks,” Singh added.
“We have identified around seven villages in the vicinity of the spot where the tiger was last spotted and are focusing all our efforts there. We are carrying out activities like sensitization of locals, spreading awareness regarding tiger and its behaviour, dos and don’ts when a tiger is sighted, whom to inform about a direct or indirect sighting of a tiger,” Singh added.