For the first time, a picture of a tiger on the prowl in the jungles near Coimbatore has been captured by a camera set up by the forest department. The first-ever visual evidence of the presence of the big cat in the Sirumugai range of Coimbatore forest division was released on Monday.
“We had set up a camera trap in Sirumugai. And, for the first time, the camera caught the picture of a tiger last week,” Coimbatore divisional forest officer (DFO) V Thirunavukkarasu said.
Till now, only pug marks have been spotted in a few areas of the 694 sqkm forests girdling Coimbatore. However, on April 17, the camera trap (a camera hidden inside a box and fixed on to a wooden post) captured a tiger lurking behind a tree in an open tract of land in Sirumugai. The wildlife census carried out in Coimbatore forests in March revealed the presence of tigers in Mettupalayam, Karamadai and Sirumugai ranges of Coimbatore forest division. Pugmarks of seven tigers were spotted in three out of the six forest ranges of Coimbatore division. “Three pug marks of tigers were spotted in Sirumugai and two each in Mettupalayam and Karamadai,” the DFO said.
Buoyed by the presence of pug marks, the forest department set up a camera trap in an area to ascertain the presence of tigers. Within a week of placing the camera, a tiger was spotted in Sirumugai, adjoining the Bhavani Sagar jungles of the Sathyamangalam forest division. “It could be a spill-over population of tigers from the Bhavani Sagar range,” said the official.
Spread over 69,000 hectares of tropical forests, the Coimbatore forest division straddles known tiger habitats of Sathyamangalam and Nilgiris forests in the north and northwest. With the tropical vegetation of Coimbatore offering a tantalising prey base of spotted deer, mouse deer, sambar and black buck, tigers from the adjoining Sathyamangalam and Nilgiris forests are now stalking Coimbatore’s jungles.
During the recent census, wildlife activists sighted at least one spotted deer for every sqkm and a mouse deer in every three sqkm of forest land. Tigers normally move around in open, flat jungle tracts as it makes hunting easier. In Sirumugai, spread over 11,000 hectares, the vegetation is not dense and deers are plenty. Perhaps, that explains why the tiger has been spotted there. Next, the forest department plans to set up a camera trap in the Mettupalayam range.
“We had set up a camera trap in Sirumugai. And, for the first time, the camera caught the picture of a tiger last week,” Coimbatore divisional forest officer (DFO) V Thirunavukkarasu said.
Till now, only pug marks have been spotted in a few areas of the 694 sqkm forests girdling Coimbatore. However, on April 17, the camera trap (a camera hidden inside a box and fixed on to a wooden post) captured a tiger lurking behind a tree in an open tract of land in Sirumugai. The wildlife census carried out in Coimbatore forests in March revealed the presence of tigers in Mettupalayam, Karamadai and Sirumugai ranges of Coimbatore forest division. Pugmarks of seven tigers were spotted in three out of the six forest ranges of Coimbatore division. “Three pug marks of tigers were spotted in Sirumugai and two each in Mettupalayam and Karamadai,” the DFO said.
Buoyed by the presence of pug marks, the forest department set up a camera trap in an area to ascertain the presence of tigers. Within a week of placing the camera, a tiger was spotted in Sirumugai, adjoining the Bhavani Sagar jungles of the Sathyamangalam forest division. “It could be a spill-over population of tigers from the Bhavani Sagar range,” said the official.
Spread over 69,000 hectares of tropical forests, the Coimbatore forest division straddles known tiger habitats of Sathyamangalam and Nilgiris forests in the north and northwest. With the tropical vegetation of Coimbatore offering a tantalising prey base of spotted deer, mouse deer, sambar and black buck, tigers from the adjoining Sathyamangalam and Nilgiris forests are now stalking Coimbatore’s jungles.
During the recent census, wildlife activists sighted at least one spotted deer for every sqkm and a mouse deer in every three sqkm of forest land. Tigers normally move around in open, flat jungle tracts as it makes hunting easier. In Sirumugai, spread over 11,000 hectares, the vegetation is not dense and deers are plenty. Perhaps, that explains why the tiger has been spotted there. Next, the forest department plans to set up a camera trap in the Mettupalayam range.
NEW TERRITORY: A tiger spotted in Sirumugai
