Berhampur: The Odisha government has formed five teams to spot the Royal Bengal Tiger which was captured in a trap camera in Mahendra forest range in Gajapati district earlier this week, an official said.
Seven cameras have been installed in the adjoining places of Santoshpur near Gandahati, where photographs of the big cat were captured.
“The teams consist of a total of 30 department staff. They will also create awareness among the nearby residents not to let their domestic animals roam free,” Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Paralakhemundi, S Anand, said.
The forest officials captured images of the big cat in a trap camera in the area twice Thursday and heard the animal’s roar, he said.
“The trap cameras were installed after the villagers recovered the carcass of a cow, suspected to be the prey of a tiger Wednesday. Forest officials have also analyzed the pug marks of the tiger after the incident,” said Ashok Kumar Behera, Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF), Paralakhemundi.
The tiger had not attacked any other domestic animal.
“The people of the area were asked not to venture into forests after evening and to keep their livestock safe,” said Behera.
The DFO said the tiger was suspected to have migrated from Bhamini mandal of Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh to explore new territory.
A video of a tiger roaming on the Odisha border near Gunupur in Rayagada district went viral on social media in August.
“We think it is the same tiger. It might have migrated to Gajapati district,” said Anand, the DFO.
The forest department had Tuesday launched a tiger census in the state.
The Odisha government decided to go for the census after the All-India Tiger Estimation (AITE) 2022 released in July this year said that the total number of big cats in the state has gone down to 20 from 45 in 2006.
PTI