Uttarakhand tiger’s tour to Himachal, Haryana

The long distance tour of a tiger from Uttarakhand in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh and Haryana has created big curiosity among wildlife scientists and lovers. A male tiger from Rajaji Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand was recently seen at Simbalbara National Park (Himachal Pradesh) and a few months back was in Kalesar National Park (Haryana). Both Haryana and Himachal saw the movement of the king of the jungle in their territory after over a hundred years. Tracking the tiger The Rajaji Tiger Reserve managed to identify the tiger, which has walked about 100 kms to cross the Uttarakhand border, through camera trap photographs. According to the park authorities the tiger reportedly crossed the Uttarakhand border in November last year. Some construction staff, working at the Dehradun-Delhi highway road project, saw the big cat near Mohund and reported it to the forest department. Saket Badola, director of Rajaji Tiger Reserve, said, “In December news about pugmarks of tigers appeared in Himachal Pradesh newspapers. We rushed our team to Paonta Sahib where the pugmarks were found. They fixed the camera trap and within two weeks the tiger was captured in the camera trap.” The photograph of the tiger also got captured on camera traps fixed by the Simbalbara National Park administration.The camera trap photographs were matched with old photographs of the tiger and they proved to be of an identical feline. Blocked corridor The Rajaji Tiger Reserve- spread in Dehradun, Haridwar and Pauri districts in Uttarakhand- boasts of a good population of tigers. The wildlife corridor connecting the eastern part of the park to its western side remains blocked since the past many decades due to urbanisation and deforestation. Elephants do use this corridor but other wildlife hardly moves from the passage. An army ammunition store, railway line and a hydropower canal continues to provide hindrance to wildlife movement on the Chilla-Motichur corridor. Despite the National Green tribunal order the army is yet to shift the ammunition dump to an alternative location. Searching new territory The tiger was captured on hidden camera in the Chilla-Motichur corridor, in Haridwar, in May last year and its movement was tracked near Haridwar forest after a few months. This proves that the tiger was looking for a new territory. A tiger crossed the Chilla-Motichur corridor after over two decades. It is estimated that the jungle cat came through the Haridwar-Rishikesh flyover. Earlier it was near impossible for wild animals to cross the highway due to heavy traffic movement. With the flyover becoming operational they use the underpass of the bridge to cross the highway. In November the feline crossed the Uttarakhand borders to roam freely in Himachal and Haryana forest. Park in action Earlier this year, a team of Rajaji Tiger was rushed to Paonta Sahib in Himachal Pradesh after a person found pug marks of a big cat in his orchard. Park’s veterinary doctor Rakesh Nautiyal said, “We scanned the pug mark site and after analysing the area selected a spot at Simbalbara National Park to fix the camera trap. We executed the operation in early February and within two weeks the tiger was captured by hidden camera.” Tigers can move long distances. But, the Rajaji Park feline passed through unknown terrain and managed to reach faraway places rather comfortably. Taking a challenging journey, by crossing the Yamuna River and passing through human settlements, the king of the jungle is presently (possibly) in Simbalbara. The Shimla Wildlife Division provided an update through its tweet on 24 August, “Heartening to note the first tiger recorded at Simbalbara still utilising our national park for movement.” Identification process The identification of the tiger was made through a scientific process. The old camera trap photographs obtained during the tiger census and new photos from H.P/Haryana were scanned through stripe pattern recognizing software. The Dehradun based Wildlife Institute of India- an autonomous Institute under Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Government of India)- confirmed that the tiger wandering in Simbalbara National Park and Kalesar National Park is actually from Rajaji Tiger Reserve. High hopes The movement of the tiger on Chilla-Motichur corridor has thrilled the Rajaji park authorities. In 2021, the Uttarakhand forest department had launched a major project to enhance tiger population in the western part of the Rajaji Tiger Reserve. For this three tigers from Corbett National Park were relocated in Rajaji. The movement of the tiger, which is presently in H.P, that too after a long time injects hope that natural movement of big cats will become a regular thing on Chilla-Motichur corridor and western Rajaji, which presently has 4-5 tigers and can accommodate over two dozen. Rajaji elephants use the same route Elephants from Rajaji Tiger Reserve use the Chilla-Motichur corridor regularly. Few years back a herd of jumbos from Uttarakhand took the same route, adopted by the mentioned tiger, to venture in forests of Himachal and Haryana. This time a tiger took an unusual path. The Rajaji tiger has created buzz in Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, as a tiger was sighted in Haryana after 110 long years. Haryana Forests and Wildlife Minister Kanwar Pal shared information about the tiger sighting on social media. Terming it a ‘proud moment’ for the state, he said, “The last sighting was in 1913. Forests and wildlife are our natural heritage and we must make united efforts to protect them.” The tiger is in the media glare. Conclusion The tiger from Rajaji will be completing one year of its outing next month. The long stay indicates the prey base is good in Himachal and Haryana forests. The monsoon is over and the water of Yamuna River has started receding. Will the tiger return to Rajaji Park and will settle permanently in Himachal Pradesh/Haryana? Coming months will clear the suspense. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._ Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.