HUBBALLI: The COVID-19 pandemic might have restricted humans from crossing borders, but the same rules do not apply for this wild tiger which has travelled almost 300 km in the last few months crossing several wildlife areas, villages and state boundaries.
A male tiger which was once a resident of Chandoli National Park of Sahyadri Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra, has now made Kali Tiger Reserve in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka its new home.
The tiger was the first camera trapped in 2018 in Sahyadri Tiger Reserve Nandurbar and in May 2020, the same tiger has been recorded in Kali Tiger Reserve in Dandeli.
The officials from the Karnataka forest department noted that the tiger (T-31) has been photographed multiple times between April and May 2020. In the last two years, the tiger has covered close to 150 sq km of the area reveals the camera trap images. "The distance between two wildlife areas is about 225 km but it may have taken longer for the tiger to move through the fragmented landscape. The finding reinforces the fact that the tiger corridors in Central Western Ghats are still viable," said a senior official from the wildlife division.
The department has also noted that the Kali Tiger Reserve is emerging as a significant attraction for tigers in the connected landscape of North Karnataka-Goa-Southern Maharashtra. In 2020, about 25 adult individual tigers have been recorded in camera traps in Kali Tiger Reserve. The efforts that have been put by the officials of the Forest Department in Kali in the last few years are now showing results.
Field Director, Kali Tiger Reserve, Maria Christu Raja D said that has the Kali Reserve has a potential to be the source of tigers for the entire North Karnataka-Goa-Southern Maharashtra landscape. "Patrolling has been intensified. We are trying to improvise our routines based on intelligence. Boat patrolling also being done in Kodasalli backwaters," he noted.
But there are grey areas. The tiger reserve is awaiting sanctioned funds for operations and several of its workers have not been paid for many months. The timely release of funds is most essential for the upkeep of the reserve which is termed as a most visited eco-tourism destination in the North Karnataka.