The tiger that has been roaming the forest of Chandaka reportedly showed up near Nandankanan Zoological Park on Sunday. A tourist claimed to have sighted the feline outside the white tiger safari.
The zoo staff, alerted, sent a look-out party but found no sign. The party will once again go in the morning to check if pug marks are available in the area.
It is for the second time that the tiger has been sighted near the zoo. Deputy Director of the zoo Chitta Ranjan Mishra said the veracity of the tourist’s claim could be ascertained only on Monday morning if pug marks are found.
Sources said the tourist was in the bus that takes visitors round the white tiger safari. “He claimed to have sighted a normal colour tiger towards the southern side of the safari,” Mishra said. The place where it was reportedly sighted is a part of Nandankanan Wildlife Sanctuary outside the perimeter of the safari area. It is a forest patch.
In the last week of December last year, the pug marks of the tiger was first spotted in Talabasta section of Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary. A fortnight later, its signs were found near Barang and the tiger even paid a ‘visit’ to Nandankanan.
On March 11, carcass of a domestic animal, with fang marks of the large cat, was spotted by the sanctuary officials in Salabonipokhari forest near Pithakhia village.