BENGALURU: Visitors to Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) would occasionally capture a wild tiger seated on the other side of the park enclosure, calling out to tigresses. However, at 1:57 PM on Tuesday, one of the striped cats was captured on camera traps taking a walk on the safari road. And it wasn’t the only one around. At 4 PM that day, a wild leopard took a stroll at the same location and was also captured by the camera.
BBP Executive Director Surya Sen said the stretch where the animals were photographed, connects the zoo area to the safari enclosure. He explained that this is not the first time wild animals have been seen taking a walk here, but they are usually seen at night; this is the first time they are walking around during the day.
Sen said the zoo area had been carved out of Bannerghatta National Park (BNP), which is home to wild tigers and leopards. At some point, there is no concrete boundary wall and a forest boundary is shared, through which the animals would have strayed in. “It is not a matter of worry, but of pride. This increases the responsibility not just of officials but every citizen to ensure better conservation,” he said.
Experts said this also explains how wildlife is adapting to human behavior. “If you observe, the animals that usually wander at night have started coming out in the daytime on a Tuesday, the day the zoo is closed for the public. This is similar to the Covid-19 times when the animals were moving freely and there was no conflict. One must also remember that there has been no man-animal conflict because of these wild animals wandering in and around the zoo premises,” an expert said.