HUBBALLI: Even as there are restrictions for people entering from Maharashtra due to the ongoing pandemic, wild tigers have travelled close to 300 km across state borders. They have crossed several wildlife areas and villages.A male tiger, which was residing in 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 first camera-trapped in 2018 in Sahyadri Tiger Reserve Nandurbar and in May 2020 the same tiger has been seen in Kali Tiger Reserve in Dandeli.
The officials from the Karnataka forest department said the tiger (T-31) has been photographed multiple times between April and May. In the last two years the tiger covered close to 150 sqkm area as per 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 source population for tigers in the connected landscape of North Karnataka-Goa-Southern Maharashtra. In 2020, about 25 adult tigers have been recorded in camera traps in Kali Tiger Reserve. The efforts that were put in by the officials of the Forest Department in Kali then are showing results now.
Field director, Kali Tiger Reserve, Maria Christu Raja D said that the Kali Reserve has the 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 is also being done in Kodasalli backwaters,” he said.