A Royal Bengal Tiger, which has been spotted in a forest in Odisha, has travelled more than 2,000 km across four states, perhaps in search of suitable territory, a forester said on Thursday. The same big cat was earlier found in a Maharashtra forest, he said.
The male tiger, whose stripe pattern was found to be similar to a big cat photographed in a forest in Maharashtra, has been sighted in the Mahendra forest range in Odisha's Gajapati district since September, Paralakhemundi divisional forest officer S Anand told PTI over the phone.
After sighting the big cat in its jurisdiction, the Parlakhemundi forest division officials in Gajapati district have been tracking the movement of the wild animal, he said.
As the tiger was sighted for the first time in the area, they sent the pictures and other details of the tiger to the Wildlife Institute of India to find its original territory, Anand said.
"The WII has confirmed that our camera trap image matched with a tiger previously photographed in the Brahmapuri forest division of Maharashtra.
"From its unique stripe patterns and other details, it was confirmed that the tiger has come from Maharashtra to Odisha travelling almost 2,000 km and covering four states-Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha," the forest official said.
Residents of Analabara village panicked after the tiger mauled a cow to death.
"Before any such incident occurs, we request the forest department to trap the tiger and translocate it to any zoo or wildlife sanctuary," said a villager from Analabara.
Ashok Behera, assistant conservator of forests (ACF), Paralakhemund, said five teams, consisting of 35 members, have been deployed to alert people living in the bordering areas.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (wildlife) Susanta Nanda appealed to the people not to remain in panic and to follow the advice of the forest officials.
"As the tiger census is underway in the state, big cats are being trapped in cameras. So, there is no need to panic," Nanda said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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