Tiger sighting: 40 camera traps set up in Palamu Tiger Reserve range

DALTONGANJ: The male tiger, which has been sighted twice in the protected forest of a range of Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR) since Friday, was sighted by chief conservator of forest and PTR field director Kumar Ashutosh on Sunday morning. Forty camera traps have been installed in the area. The tiger is believed to have strayed here from Chhattisgarh.
Kumar Ashutosh said, “We have put up 40 camera traps at strategic locations.Thirty personnel, including members the tiger protection force (TPF), have been deployed to maintain vigil. A daily record of the movement, location, kill, among others of the tiger is being maintained,” adding that the camera traps have captured the tiger.
“On Sunday morning, I sighted the tiger from 20 metres away. The deputy director of the north division, P Jena, was with me. We have directed the forest guards and the trackers to collect the pug marks and the scat of the tiger. They are on the job,” said the field director.
He, however, conceded that the range where the tiger is dwelling is infamous for illicit guns. “Our men have fanned out in the villages located in the periphery of the range and are urging them to help protect this tiger by all means. Anyone found possessing any weapon in the area would face action,” he added.
“The PTR management will compensate the villagers whose livestock might be killed by the tiger,” he said.