Under constant watch, big cats explore village, state highway22 July, 2008 Hindustan Times
In a welcome sign of settling down in their new home since the two big cats were released out of their enclosures two weeks back, the animals have finally hunted down their first wild preys in Sariska.
Monitoring teams have found remains of a Sambar and a fawn hunted by the tigress on last Friday. Though the field staff had no such luck with the kills made by the tiger, the fact that he did not take any goat bait for some days indicated that he also went for a hard-earned change of taste.
Since the two big cats were shifted to Sariska enclosures from Ranthambhore three weeks back, they were on a goat diet. Even after the tigers were let out of the enclosures, the forest authorities continued with live goat baits so that the animals don’t move too far in search of food. Many were worried that too long on goat diet might make the animals selectively target livestock in the surrounding villages and create man-animal conflict.
"Yes, it’s great news that the tigers have made wild kills. They continue to be in fine health and are settling down. They have not come face to face yet and their territories do not overlap," confirmed PS Somshekhar, Field Director, Sariska.
While both animals have apparently settled down in the Core One – easily the best forest stretch in Sariska – since their release outside the enclosures, they have given quite a few anxious moments to the monitoring teams of scientists from Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the local forest staff.
Last week, the tigress moved close to the edge of the forest near Naldeshwar before moving back on her own. Yesterday, she ventured till the state highway (SH-13) near Kushalgarh but, fortunately, did not cross over. Under close watch, she has not gone too far back inside the forest till this evening.
The tiger, on the other hand, threatened to walk out of the reserve through the Tehla gate a few days back. Then on Saturday night, the big male decided to explore Dabkon, a village of about 35 households at the edge of the forest near Tehla. But the monitoring teams took positions early and were ready when the tiger walked in at around 2 am on Sunday morning. As the villagers watched in huddles, the forest staff pushed the big cat back using traditional methods of bursting firecrackers and playing drums.
"It is natural that the big cats will walk in all directions as they are trying to explore the forest before curving out their territories. Anyway, Sariska is a linear stretch of forest and the edges are not too far apart. But constant monitoring is on efficient intervention methods are in place," said Dr Rajesh Gopal, chief of National Tiger Conservation Authority.
Since the two radio-collared big cats walked free, the tiger has covered an area of about 100 sq km. He has been spotted marking his territory around the place from where a forest village – Bagani – was recently moved out. The tigress, typically, showed less movement and has remained contained within 45-50 sq km. "She has been by far confined to the Sukhota block of the Akbarpura range," said Somshekhar.
Monitoring teams have found remains of a Sambar and a fawn hunted by the tigress on last Friday. Though the field staff had no such luck with the kills made by the tiger, the fact that he did not take any goat bait for some days indicated that he also went for a hard-earned change of taste.
Since the two big cats were shifted to Sariska enclosures from Ranthambhore three weeks back, they were on a goat diet. Even after the tigers were let out of the enclosures, the forest authorities continued with live goat baits so that the animals don’t move too far in search of food. Many were worried that too long on goat diet might make the animals selectively target livestock in the surrounding villages and create man-animal conflict.
"Yes, it’s great news that the tigers have made wild kills. They continue to be in fine health and are settling down. They have not come face to face yet and their territories do not overlap," confirmed PS Somshekhar, Field Director, Sariska.
While both animals have apparently settled down in the Core One – easily the best forest stretch in Sariska – since their release outside the enclosures, they have given quite a few anxious moments to the monitoring teams of scientists from Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the local forest staff.
Last week, the tigress moved close to the edge of the forest near Naldeshwar before moving back on her own. Yesterday, she ventured till the state highway (SH-13) near Kushalgarh but, fortunately, did not cross over. Under close watch, she has not gone too far back inside the forest till this evening.
The tiger, on the other hand, threatened to walk out of the reserve through the Tehla gate a few days back. Then on Saturday night, the big male decided to explore Dabkon, a village of about 35 households at the edge of the forest near Tehla. But the monitoring teams took positions early and were ready when the tiger walked in at around 2 am on Sunday morning. As the villagers watched in huddles, the forest staff pushed the big cat back using traditional methods of bursting firecrackers and playing drums.
"It is natural that the big cats will walk in all directions as they are trying to explore the forest before curving out their territories. Anyway, Sariska is a linear stretch of forest and the edges are not too far apart. But constant monitoring is on efficient intervention methods are in place," said Dr Rajesh Gopal, chief of National Tiger Conservation Authority.
Since the two radio-collared big cats walked free, the tiger has covered an area of about 100 sq km. He has been spotted marking his territory around the place from where a forest village – Bagani – was recently moved out. The tigress, typically, showed less movement and has remained contained within 45-50 sq km. "She has been by far confined to the Sukhota block of the Akbarpura range," said Somshekhar.
1 comment:
Its great to hear such news (re. the diet).
Just curious-
Is such constant monitoring sustainable? Any hypotheses on why its heading out of the prey-dense valley so often?
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