Almost two weeks after an adult male tiger was photographed in the forests of West Bengal’s Lalgarh, it remains elusive.
On March 2, four photographs of the tiger were recorded on camera traps in the Lalgarh range of the Medinipur Forest Division. Since then, four trap cages with goats as bait, and two tranquilising teams have been pressed into service. .
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked forest officials to use drones to track the tiger, while addressing an administrative meeting on March 8. Two drones have been brought from Kolkata, but with no success.
“The tiger is roaming around a radius of 15 sq. km. in an area of about 45-50 sq. km. The tiger is still in the forests of Lalgarh, Pirakata and Goaltore,” Ravi Kant Sinha, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Chief Wildlife Warden, Sundarban Biosphere Reserve, told The Hindu.
