Sambalpur: A Royal Bengal Tiger was recently spotted at the Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary in this district, Forest department officials informed Monday.
The picture of the big cat moving around in the forest was caught by a trap camera.
A Forest Department official informed that the tiger moves around over a vast stretch of area. “Usually the tiger stays in the core area of the Debrigarh forest during the day. However, it comes out during evening and night. It was caught on camera when it was moving over a stretch of road in the evening,” the official stated. “It is a healthy animal and in good shape as there is plenty of food available in the forest,” the official added.
Incidentally, the tiger was first seen by a group of tourists December 1, last year. It was the first instance of a tiger being seen in the Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary in six years. The big cat was sighted for the second time at the sanctuary, located close to Hirakud dam, in February this year.
The Forest department had then said that the tiger had moved to Debrigarh from a forest in Chhattisgarh. Tigers by nature can travel for miles without getting tired. Forest department officials had also said that as there is no competition for the tiger in Debrigarh, it frequently moves around in the area.
It is worth mentioning that the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has given approval to a proposal of the Odisha government to declare Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve.
PNN