No tiger spotted on camera during Goa's first tracking drive

Panaji: Goa Forest Department’s recent drive to capture a tiger on camera to mark its presence in two of its wildlife sanctuaries has not succeeded this time, a senior official said on Tuesday. The cameras were placed at different locations in south Goa’s Cotigao and Netravali wildlife sanctuaries for five days last week as a trial for a bigger exercise to establish the presence of tigers.  "Unfortunately, we could not grab images of tigers, but there were nine leopards and seven bears who were captured on camera," he said. He expressed confidence that the tiger would be sighted during the long duration operations scheduled to be held post-monsoons. “We will be able to trap them (on camera) during the longer drive after monsoons when there are water bodies created at several spots,” said a forest department official. The forest department officials said there were tigers in Cotigao and Netravali wildlife sanctuaries, although they were not seen on camera this time. Similar trials would now be shifted to Mhadei and Bhagwan Mahaveer wildlife sanctuaries. The exercise has come in the backdrop of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests asking the state government to submit its proposal to declare Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve. The Union government’s directives were received after the state forest department captured images of a tigress in the sanctuary in April, boosting the possibility of having more big cats in the area, which is an integral part of the Western Ghats. PTI