This Tiger Has Travelled Over 300 Kms From Maharashtra And Made Karnataka Its New Home
The tiger, officially known as T-31 was first photographed in 2018 in Sahyadri Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra's Nandurbar.
Tigers are territorial animals and are extremely protective of their territories from invaders. Tigers are also known to migrate long distances in search of territories.
They use what is known as tiger corridors to migrate to faraway places, often in search of food or a mate covering both forests and human settlements.
BCCL
The National Tiger Conservation Authority in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India has mapped out 32 major corridors across the country.
A tiger which was spotted in Maharashtra a couple of years ago has now reportedly reached Karnataka, covering over 300 kilometers.
The tiger, officially known as T-31 was first photographed in 2018 in Sahyadri Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra's Nandurbar.
But since early this year, the male tiger has been caught on camera trap by the Karnataka forest department multiple times at the Kali Tiger Reserve.
BCCL
The tiger is said to have been on the move for the past two years until it was first spotted in KTR in April.
The story of T-31's journey has once again reignited the call for a tiger corridor in Central Western Ghats.
It would in effect allow the movement of tigers from Karnataka to Goa and Maharashtra.
According to the recently released ¡®Status of Tiger Co-predators & Prey in India¡¯ KTR that covers a total area of 1,306 sq km has recorded only four tigers.
It also noted that two tiger reserves of Karnataka, which are part of the Nagarhole-Bandipur-Wayanad-Mudumalai-Satyamangalam-BRT block have 724 tigers, and the highest number of striped cats in the world.
According to Field Director of KTR Maria Christu Raja D, the reserve has the potential to be the source of tigers for the entire North Karnataka-Goa-Southern Maharashtra landscape.
BCCL
Recently, the Karnataka High Court had stayed the state wildlife board¡¯s clearance for the laying of the 168-km Hubballi-Ankola railway line.
Environmentalists allege that the line would cut through the Bedthi Conservation Reserve, the Hornbill Conservation Reserve and the buffer zone of the Kali Tiger Reserve. It would also end up creating a barrier between the Kali and the Bhadra tiger reserves, disrupting a migration corridor for wildlife.
Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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