A tiger has been spotted in Gujarat after twenty-seven years. According to reports, a teacher driving home from school spotted the big cat crossing a road in Mahisagar district. The last time a tiger was seen in Gujarat was along the Dang border in 1992.
Mahesh Mahera, the man who spotted the lone feline apparently captured the moment in his mobile phone from his inside his car. The images went viral across mobile networks of the state forest department which has further led them to set up camera traps to confirm the tiger’s presence in the area.
Mahera was quoted as saying,
“While returning home from school in the evening, I was shocked to see a tiger just 40 feet away from my car. As locals have been talking about the tiger’s presence in the area, I immediately clicked its pictures from inside my vehicle.”
After the picture reached principal chief conservator of forest Akshay Saxena, a thorough search was initiated by him to track down the striped cat. He said,
“We are looking for scat (tiger faeces), pug marks, big animals killed. Three camera traps have been mounted and more will be placed soon to capture visual evidence of tiger.”
According to reports, the tiger was spotted in the lion’s territory with the help of the advanced night vision cameras placed by forest officials. The tiger’s age has been determined from 5-7 years old.
The PCCF also said that when they get evidence of the tiger being present in the area, the department will rework the wildlife conservation programme for big cats.
State forest minister Ganpatsinh Vasava mentioned that the Madhya Pradesh government has reported a tiger missing so the possibility of the tiger crossing state borders is quite high. He also said that they will now determine whether the area could be suitable for a tiger to inhabit.
Reportedly, locals have complained about the killing of four goats and an ox in Verana and Santrampur area a couple of weeks ago.