A tiger sighting reportedly near Zero Point in Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttarakhand has left the local villagers worried, prompting the forest department to begin monitoring the area with camera traps and surveillance teams.
The big cat was filmed by tourists on Sunday. According to a report, the tourists were passing through the forest road near Zero Point in Almora district when they saw the tiger among trees while negotiating a bend.
The video filmed by the tourists and purportedly showing a tiger moving through the sanctuary was widely circulated on social media. The Forest Department has also confirmed the presence of a tiger in the sanctuary and has stepped up monitoring to track its movement.
Following the sighting, forest officials have installed camera traps at strategic locations across the sanctuary to capture photographs and videos of the animal and determine its movement pattern and location.
A Quick Response Team (QRT) has also been activated to respond to any emergency situation arising from the tiger's movement.
Forest teams are continuing regular patrols and monitoring the camera traps to determine the tiger's movement and ensure the safety of both wildlife and people visiting or residing in the area.
Binsar, according to a report, is not an isolated forest patch for the villagers. It is where people walk, tourists drive through and families living inside the sanctuary move about for daily needs.
Quoting wildlife experts, the report said isolated sightings do no necessarily mean a tiger has established permanent territory, but repeated movement in higher-altitude forests would require closer study.
Speaking exclusively to ANI, DFO Civil Soyam Forest Division Pradeep Dhaulkhandi said that the department is continuously monitoring the tiger's activities and collecting data about its movement.
He explained that tigers generally have large home ranges and can travel considerable distances in search of food. According to him, a tiger can normally roam across a territory of around 1,000 to 1,500 square kilometres, and its presence in Binsar could therefore be part of its normal territorial movement.
(With inputs from ANI)