CHENNAI: As the magnificent big striped cats are being repeatedly spotted in the jungles of Sathyamangalam sanctuary, the state government will soon take efforts to turn it into a tiger reserve. Last week, there were as many as five direct sightings during an official survey.
In the six-day carnivore sign survey taken up by the state forest department, five tigers were directly sighted by foresters and volunteers involved in the census in Hasanur and Bhavanisagar ranges of Sathyamangalam forest division, adjoining the Mudumalai and Bandipur tiger reserves. The survey team has also found evidence that there could be four more tigers roaming these forests.
When state forest minister N Selvaraj visited Sathyamangalam, the division’s forest officials briefed him on the need to make it a tiger reserve as there was solid and clinching evidence that the tigers have made the scrub jungles their home over the past few years. “Yes, I was told about the importance of Sathyamangalam forests and the need to make it a tiger reserve. We will certainly consider it,” Selvaraj told TOI.
Sathyamangalam forests link the Eastern and Western Ghats allowing gene flow between diverse populations of the two habitats. Incidentally, the Karnataka forest department has sent a proposal to make Biligiri Rangaswamy (BR) Wildlife Sanctuary, contiguous to Sathyamangalam, as a tiger reserve, officials note.
Tamil Nadu already has three tiger reserves in Kalakad-Mundanthurai, Mudumalai and Anamalai. Sathyamangalam which has been in the spotlight for the past five years for sighting of tigers could be the fourth.
Interestingly, tigers were sighted in Kodaikanal forests after a long time during the six-day survey that concluded on Thursday. A tigress and her cub were spotted playing in the wild. The forest officials are sifting through columns of data scouring for clear evidence to work out an estimate of the tiger numbers based on indirect evidence like pug marks, scats and scratches.
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