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Lone tiger goes missing from Palamu Tiger Reserve, efforts on to enhance prey base
According to park officials, the tiger was last seen in the Chhipadohar range in March earlier this year. However, no traces of his presence in the reserve area have been found so far
The latest tiger count status report released by the National Tiger Conservation Society (NTCA) on Saturday confirmed the presence of one tiger in the ‘tigerless’ Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR). However, the lone big cat reported to be inhabiting Jharkhand’s only reserve forest has been traceless for months.
According to park officials, the tiger was last seen in the Chhipadohar range in March earlier this year. However, no traces of his presence in the reserve area have been found so far. A massive search by teams of forest officials has not yet yielded results and they suspect the tiger has moved into another forest area.
Based on the NTCA findings, tiger project authorities have embarked upon enhancing the prey base in the reserve forest area to ensure the tigers stick to the reserve. Recently, a two-day workshop was conducted at Betla National Park to train officials and field staff about managing grasslands in tiger habitat areas.
“From no tigers to presence of a minimum of one in PTR, we are now focusing on improving existing grasslands and creating new ones in the reserve area. The country’s top botanist and professor Dr Gajanan D Muratkar has trained us about the intricacies of grassland,” PTR field director Kumar Ashutosh said.
Vidarbha-based Muratkar is also known as the Grass Man of India for his significant contribution in conserving grasslands in central Indian landscape.
Admitting that they had no track of the lone tiger since March, he said, “Once we have grasslands, water and enough cheetals, tigers are going to stay here. For this purpose, we are setting up four cheetal soft-release centres. The cheetals from Betla National Park will be gradually released in the core area.”
Noted wildlife expert Dr DS Srivastava said PTR has good potential for sustaining tigers. “However, the management has to act more proactively to ensure that tigers make PTR their permanent home,” he said.
