This story is from January 9, 2021

Tiger sighting claims increased after MP tiger came to Mahisagar

Tiger sighting claims increased after MP tiger came to Mahisagar
Vadodara: After the tiger from Ratapani forests in Madhya Pradesh was spotted in Mahisagar district of Gujarat in February 2019, there seems to be no end to calls of tiger sightings in the district. Forest officials have been kept on their toes in wake of the claims.
The tiger from Ratapani was spotted by a teacher on February 11, 2019 by a teacher and he even photographed it.

On February 26, 2019, the tiger was found dead in a nearby area it is believed that it died because of starvation.
But the calls of tigers being spotted have continued even after this.
For about a month after the death of the tiger, people kept claiming that more tigers were spotted.
These claims were never verified.
The claims have not ended despite nearly two years having passed since the tiger had died.
In about a year, the forest department in Mahisagar has had to verify nine claims of tiger sightings. “None of these turned out to be true,” said Mahisagar deputy conservator of forests (DCF) R D Jadeja.

Jadeja said that in the recent incident too, there was no confirmation of a tiger being spotted.
“It has come to light that the incident may have taken place four or five days back. Our officials identified the cow and it had only a minor scratch,” said Jadeja.
According to Jadeja, the marks seen at the site were clearly not of a tiger. “The claims have gone up after the tiger was spotted in the district. Eight days back too someone had claimed that a tiger was spotted in Virpur in the district, but that was not the case,” he said.
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About the Author
Sachin Sharma

Sachin Sharma is special correspondent at The Times of India, Vadodara. He reports on politics, civic issues, Vadodara Municipal Corporation and Panchmahal district. He also reports on crime frequently. His areas of interest include following the debates on major issues on TV, following election coverage of all significant polls in the country, Bollywood movies, cricket, international football, spending time with friends and reading on current affairs.

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