Tiger sightings raise hope in Buxa Tiger Reserve
Tiger sightings raise hope in Buxa Tiger Reserve :
Tow back to back tiger sightings inside the Buxa Tiger Reserve this month, claimed the foresters, will silence the critics who have always said that tigers in this north Bengal forest have remained only on papers. But this has once again reinforced the need to lay camera traps in this tiger parks to back such claims.
There have been several reports of tiger sighting by both villagers and forest staff of the reserve. But the authorities have so far failed to take the photographs to justify the sightings.
This time sightings were reported from the Kartika forest under north Raidak range earlier this month. Confirming the report, Buxa tiger Reserve East deputy field director said, “ A villager from the Kanjulibasti had entered the forest opposite the Raidak river in July for livestock grazing when he sighted the tiger. Soon he rushed to the local range office and gave the description, from which it seemed he had really sighted a tiger ".
Further confirmation came the next day when a full grown tiger appeared before a forest guard while he was on patrol at Tiamari, close to the Kartika forest, under the same range. “ We believe it’s the same tiger that was sighted by the villager the previous day”, said the range officer.
A Buxa Tiger Reserve veteran, who spent several years in the reserve, said the place is only a few lilometer from the Kalikhola forests in Bhutan. Hence, chances are high that it can be a dispersing tiger that has migrated from Bhutan forests. It may not be the resident tiger, “’ added the veteran.
According to the DFD, due to heavy rain the pug marks were washed away and the foresters were left with no proof to back their claims.
Meanwhile the Chief Wildlife Warden said the department was planning to conduct an extensive camera trap exercise, on the lines of the recently concluded study in the Sundarbans, to put the rest of the controversy over the presence of tigers in Buxa. “ We have asked the WWF officials to conduct a feasibility study”, he said.
Sources said only three months back, a full grown tiger was sighted in the forest of Chuniajhora under the Hatipota range.
Courtesy : The Times of India
Recent Post
