There could be more than one wild tiger inside the Bannerghatta National Park, located just 37 km from the City.
According to Forest department officials, more pug mark evidence has been found inside Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) and Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP). On Saturday, a group of visitors in a safari bus along with driver had sighted a wild tiger at BBP Mulegundekere safari area (near animal rescue centre).
The BBP has been carved out of BNP and both share the same boundary. There have been instances of sighting wild elephants, sloth bear, leopard and herbivores near safari roads which are closest to the BNP boundary. Saturday’s tiger sighting was at one such location.
BBP Executive Director Range Gowda told Deccan Herald that there could be more than one tiger around. This is because last week, pug marks were found at Mulegundekere and Siggekatte (where captive elephants are housed). The staff have been reporting clues for the last six months.
It is confirmed that it is a wild tiger as count of all captive ones is correct. Also, three years back a tiger was sighted in the BNP. It is possible that this male tiger could have come from Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS), as it is nearest to the BNP (around 90 km) and is well connected by forest, he added.
To get more details, tiger experts and Zoo Authority of Karnataka officials will be visiting Bannerghatta soon. Camera traps are being installed near BBP boundaries, waterholes, forest ranges and at places where pug marks were seen.
BNP Director Sunil Panwar too added that there could be more tigers as they were noticing pug marks of tigers for a very long time now. More such marks were found during foot patrolling on Saturday and Sunday.
He also did not rule out the possibility that it could be a lone male tiger wandering around in search of territory. “This shows that BNP is conducive for tigers. Only the northern tip is frequented by humans, but southern tip is undisturbed. It is possible that there are tigers there,” he said.
Expert differs
But, tiger experts believe other wise. They opine that BNP is not conducive for tigers. Noted tiger conservationist Ullas K Karanth said tigers do travel long distances and this has been documented.
“It is possible that the tiger could have come from elsewhere and not just the CWS. However, BNP is not best suitable for tigers as people have low tolerance level. If there is cattle kill, the tiger will be poisoned or captured. There is also less of prey density and a lot of human intervention,” Karanth said.