A first: Tiger caught on camera in Paonta Sahib park

Subhash Rajta

Shimla, February 21

A month after the pugmarks of a tiger were spotted in Paonta Sahib, wildlife officials have managed to catch the image of the wild cat on camera traps inside the Simbalbara National Park.

“It’s for the first time that a tiger has been captured on camera traps in the state. The image confirms the presence of a tiger in the national park, which is a great news,” said N Ravisankar, DFO, Wildlife, Shimla.

The wildlife staff had set up camera traps to confirm the presence of the tiger when the pugmarks were spotted a month ago. “We have managed to get a picture of the tiger due to the regular monitoring by our staff under Forest Range Officer Sunder Singh. The image has been recorded in the night by forest guard Ankush Thakur,” Ravisankar said.

The wildlife officials believe that the tiger had arrived at the Simbalbara National Park from the Rajaji National Park by crossing the Yamuna over a month ago. The fact that it hasn’t gone back is a great news for the Simbalbara National Park as it will enhance the area’s biodiversity.

“It seems the tiger has found a good prey base in the area. The wild cat seems to be using the Simbalbara National Park and the adjoining Kalesar National Park as his territory,” the DFO added.

He said the wildlife staff had put in a lot of effort to clear the area of invasive plants such as lantana. “This has made the territory quite grassy, and has led to an increase in the number of herbivores in the area,” Ravisankar added.