TRACKING THE STRIPES
Mustafa Ali Ahmed, divisional forest officer of Kochugaon forest division in Assam, under which Raimona National Park falls, told TOI that his team was recently informed by the Bengal forest dept about movement of the reintroduced tigress towards Assam. “We were informed that it was heading towards Raimona,” he said, adding that Raimona now has around 6 tigers. State forest minister Manoj Kumar Oraon told TOI that the tigress was in very good health and was exploring different landscapes within Buxa and its adjoining areas. Experts said such movement was natural for a tiger exploring a new habitat, particularly in a contiguous forest landscape spanning Bengal, Assam and Bhutan. Experts said the tigress could potentially cross the Sankosh and move through adjoining forest corridors in Bhutan’s Phibsoo Sanctuary towards Raimona. This corridor, they said, is less-disturbed and is used by tigers for movements between Assam, Bhutan and northern Bengal. “Recent photographs captured through camera traps installed for systematic monitoring indicate that the tigress appears relaxed and comfortable in her surroundings,” Oraon said. Evidence of kills of wild herbivores and scat has also been recorded at different locations traversed by the tigress, indicating feeding activity and continued movement through the landscape, the minister said. Its movements are part of the initial adaptation phase following its translocation from Valmiki, said a source.
Raimona shares border with Buxa on its western side. For a big cat, there are no state boundaries in a contiguous forest landscape. The forest dept is tracking the animal through camera traps and radio collar — which has the facilities of both on-the-ground tracking and tracking through satellite signals received at a central location — as it explores different habitat types, vegetations and water bodies.