More pugmarks claims keep foresters on tenterhooks

Vadodara: The forest department remains on its toes after more claims by villagers around Signali in Mahisagar districts that a cub and an adult tiger were moving around in the area.
While no one has seen a tiger, the claims are based on pugmarks found in the area.

A tiger that had trekked over 300km from Madhya Pradesh was spotted around Signali in early February. Its presence was also confirmed by trap cameras installed by the forest department. But the tiger was found dead on February 26.

When the tiger still alive and even after its death, claims regarding more tigers including cubs have been made by villagers in the area. On February 28 too, a farmer had claimed that he had seen pugmarks of the striped big cat in his farm. The forest department installed trap cameras in the area, but could capture only a leopard on March 2.

The latest claims were made after several pugmarks were spotted very near the farm where they were seen on February 28. The villagers are again claiming that these were of a tiger and a cub. The forest department has kept up its surveillance in the area using trap cameras, but has not been able to get any evidence of a tiger.

“The pugmarks seem to be of the same leopard that was photographed earlier. Also, there are no cubs and it seems to be moving alone,” said deputy conservator of forests (Mahisagar) R M Parmar. He added that the cameras still remain in place to ensure that if at all there was a tiger, it could be photographed.