NILGIRIS: Nilgiris forest division staff step up vigil after a tiger was spotted at day time along the roadside in Pine forest on the Ooty Gudalur road.
A tourist captured a video in which a tiger was resting along the roadside and shared it with the forest department and on social media. Thereafter, the forest staff with the help of an NGO urged tourists to avoid approaching the spot where the animal was seen.
“Pine forest is one of the notable tourist spots in the Nilgiris and a large number of tourists arrive here. We have posted five staff and are advising tourists to avoid taking their children to the bushes as there is a high chance that the animal may hide. Though there were no human-tiger conflicts so far, we are creating awareness and taking precaution,” said a forest department official.
Tigers were recently spotted in Pine forest, abandoned facility of the Hindustan Photo Films Manufacturing Company, Doddabetta, Sandynalla and Marlimund but there were no adverse fallouts so far.
The animals are suspected to have been roaming near to the human habitations within the Ooty town limits.
They might have come from the nearby Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR). As the number of tigers and their movements are increasing, wildlife activists demanded the Nilgiris forest division officials to step up their vigil.