Bhopal: Earlier this week, a tiger was spotted in Gujarat, for the first time since 1992. The sighting earned Gujarat the distinction of being the only state in India with the presence of all three big cats namely lions, tigers and leopards. The animal was spotted by a government school teacher near Boriya village in Mahisagar district on February 9.
After visuals of the tiger went viral on social media, officials from the Ratapani wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh have confirmed that the tiger in question made his journey to Gujarat from the sanctuary which is about 50 km from state capital Bhopal. This development means that the big cat spotted in Mahisagar district trekked 300 km over two years to reach Gujarat, the second largest recorded dispersal for a leonine animal.
Ujjain chief conservator of forests, BS Annagiri told Times of India that the tiger was identified by its stripes which were captured on camera. He added that the forest department in Madhya Pradesh tracked the tiger till it was in their jurisdiction and it is now the responsibility of wildlife officials in the state of Gujarat. "After all, animals have no borders," said Annagiri.
The Ratapani forest range has recently been notified by the Madhya Pradesh forest department as a wildlife division. Home to over 34 tigers, the forest is spread over 2,170 sq km. Environmentalists have time and again demanded that Ratapani be declared a tiger sanctuary but the same is yet to be brought into effect.
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