Elusive tiger returns to state, foresters on alert

Jamshedpur: The elusive tiger believed to be from Jharkhand which strayed to West Bengal has returned to the state with fresh pugmarks detected on the Dalma-Patamda-Ghatsila corridor. Over 50 foresters of the Chandil, Dalma and Ghatsila ranges are tracking the tiger on this corridor. As many as nine villages on the tiger's path have been put on alert.
According to the forest officials, fresh pugmarks of the tiger were found at different places across nine villages on the corridor. The officials said they installed 24 camera traps and 40 Pugmark Installation Pads (PIPs) on the identified route on Tuesday.
Jamshedpur divisional forest officer Saba Alam Ansari said, "The tiger was traced to the Ghatsila circle on Tuesday."
Ansari also said earlier on Sunday evening, the tiger seemed to be moving towards Dalma from Ghatsila based on its pugmarks.
According to the forester, the fresh pugmarks matched those of the tiger which had strayed into the Chandil-Dalma range earlier in January.
The tiger's movement suggested that the big cat came back to East Singhbhum from the Bandwan forest area of Bengal, Ansari said. Earlier, it was presumed that the tiger would sneak into the Chandil forest range after it moved towards Jharkhand from Purulia in Bengal on Sunday.
"We are taking multiple steps to capture the movement of the tiger from a close range," the DFO added.
Meanwhile, the forest department has alerted people living in the foothill villages of the tiger's path and advised them not to venture out or into the jungle areas for the time being. The villages alerted are — Machabera, Hadmadih, Itamara and Govindpur under the MGM police station area, Dumkakocha, Mirgitand, Jhatijharna and Jamvad under the Galudih police station area and Aambera under the Ghatsila police station.