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Wild Tigress sighted (and caught) near Chitradurga after 60 (35 ?) years!!!




Dear friends,

A wild tiger has been sighted near Holalkere in south-interior Karnataka's Chitradurga District after nearly 60 years (or 35 ?) years. Please click here to see a satellite image of the area on Google maps. Some of the stories as they appeared in the press are on this page. So, did this tigress come from south-west of Chitradurga via Joldala from the north-eastern portion of Bhadra Tiger Reserve? Or did it do so from the south-east of Chitradurga via the huge forest belt along the Tumkur - Chitradurga district borders. This sighting may fuel the controversy that Tigers might just be surviving in the forests of Mari Kanive State Forest (Chitradurga District) - Bukkapatna State Forest (Tumkur District). Or is it that the tiger population of Bhadra Tiger Reserve has increased beyond its carrying capacity driving young tigers like these out of its boundaries? 

But the biggest question is, are tigers (like leopards) adapting to so called "big prey-depleted" forests like those of Tumkur and Chitradurga districts? This is particularly in view of the tiger sightings inside the isolated Devarayanadurga State Forest. It's high time serious scientific research is taken up to prove/ disprove this.

 For those interested in knowing the sightings of Tigers in Devarayanadurga jungles near Tumkur city, please see: http://tumkurenvironment.blogspot.com/2007/08/tiger-in-devarayanadurga-posted-august.html

http://tumkurenvironment.blogspot.com/2008/03/tigers-return-to-haunt-devarayanadurga.html

In conservation,Ameen
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Source: Deccan Chronicle, Bengaluru, Sep 23, 2008http://www.deccan.com/Bengaluru/home/homedetails.asp#Durga's tiger after 35 years

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Durga's tiger after 35 years
Bengaluru Sept. 22: A tiger in Chitradurga? A three-year-old tigress was spotted on the outskirts of the fort city of Holalkere on Monday, the first report of a tiger sighting in this region for over 35 years.  Alarmed that the feline could prey on their cattle, the local people alerted the forest department which captured the beast. The big cat, which was manually trapped, has been kept under observation at the Chitradurga mini-zoo. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, deputy conservator of forests Srinivasulu said: "Some people noticed the animal around eight in the morning. But they could not identify the carnivore. By the time we arrived at the spot, it had moved into a maize field. We noticed its movement from the top of a tree."

"But we had to wait for three hours before we managed to immobilise it manually. The government veterinarian (Dr Bhaskar) sedated it and we moved it to the mini-zoo," said Srinivasulu. The DFC said the tigress was given vitamins and glucose. "As it had travelled a long distance it was finding it difficult to move. The veterinarian injected vitamins and glucose so that it would not collapse from exhaustion. At the moment it is doing well." Would the tigress be released in the wild again? "I am in touch with the principal chief conservator of forests. We will take a decision once it recovers completely," said Srinivasulu.

Where did the feline come from? "It is hard to say as there is no forest cover for nearly 10km from where we captured it. In fact, the nearest patch of forests is at Chitradurga, Chennagiri and Bhadravathy," said the DCF.
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Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 24, 2008 at 6:52 PM

    TO find out the route taken by tigers to reach the destinations at which they are caught the best thing to do is to radio coller the same tigers and find their route,BECAUSE THEY VISIT THEIR BIRTH PLACE WHEN THEIR IS VERY LESS PREY IN THEIR NEW AREA OR BECOME CATTLE EATERS OR MAN EATERS."ITS HIGH TIME WAKE UP FOREST OFFICERS I THINK YOU PEOPLE HAD ENOUGH SLEEP".ELSE IT WILL BE A PROBLEM TO WILDLIFE AND INTURN PEOPLE WHO JUST KILL THEM.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kannada CuisineSeptember 26, 2008 at 1:47 AM

    Its very exciting to know that Tigers are indeed surviving our onslaught!
    It reminds me of my great-grand-father, who was a police officer in Madhugiri back in the days of British.
    On one of his official trips to head-quarter Tumkur via Devarayanadurga, he had encountered a fully grown tiger. Though he escaped the tiger, the event had scared him for his lifetime. He used to have nightmares about it untill his death!
    Great to know that we do have a chance of sighting tigers closer home

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 26, 2008 at 11:15 PM

    it really would be quite interesting to deduce where the tigress came from. However, we can perhaps compare it to a similar phenomenon when a wild tiger was spotted in Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai. It was believed to have come from a nearby area (Tungareshwar, I think). Of course, the last heard information on this bit was there were abt 2 perhaps 3 tigers in the connected area. this was abt 4-5 years ago. A few reports came from Pune in between (I believe there were pugmark casts), but no recent reports that I recall. Perhaps the government may be missing opportunities in notifying protected areas

    ReplyDelete
  4. LaxmeeshaDecember 31, 2010 at 1:23 AM

    Namaste Ameen,

    Considering the small area of DDSF (40 odd sq. kms), I don't think it will be too difficult to trace a tiger here if we have sufficient volunteers. Do you think we can organise something here?

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownDecember 8, 2015 at 9:30 PM

    For your kind information, IT IS THE CHITRADURGA DISTRICT VETERINARY HOSPITAL VETERINARY DOCTOR S.N.HARISH TRANQUILIZED THE TIGER with the available minimum equipments without dart gun, of-course with the help of A team of brave KORACHA boys

    ReplyDelete

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