Tiger seen at Kalesar was adult male from Rajaji National Park: Haryana forest officials
The Kalesar National Park is adjacent to Simbalbara National Park in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district and both are connected to Rajaji through a dense forest
A tiger that was caught on camera-trap at the Kalesar Park in Yamunanagar district a couple of months ago was an adult male who came from Rajaji National Park in Dehradun, forest officials from Haryana and Uttrakhand have confirmed.
The Kalesar National Park is adjacent to Simbalbara National Park in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district and both are connected to Rajaji through a dense forest.
The Haryana forest officials believe that several wild animals use this as a corridor to move around in search of food or for favourable living conditions.
At Kalesar, a camera-trap at an undisclosed location captured two images of the big cat as seen on April 18 and April 19, that were first shared on Twitter by Haryana forests and wildlife minister Kanwar Pal on April 27.
Speaking to HT, chief conservator of forests (wildlife), Panchkula, ML Rajvanshi, said “It was ascertained that it was a healthy adult male tiger. He was here till May and his pugmarks were not found later, probably due to rain.”
To know the age, sex and other details of the animal, the wildlife division of the department formed a team to follow the pugmarks.
In May, a team from Rajaji National Park arrived at Kalesar for identification and to guide their counterparts on how to monitor the animal, while following protocols, officials privy to the development said.
“While confirming the identification, Uttrakhand officials said that the tiger is a nomad and roams around in different ranges of Rajaji and they are clueless as to how long he will stay at Kalesar. Now, the records are being maintained on the tiger sighting at Kalesar,” they added.
Spread in 11,570 acres in the Shivalik foothills, the Kalesar National Park is home to a large number of wild animals like leopards, elephants, wild boar, sambhar and several species of birds.
In February, two wild elephants had reportedly come to Kalesar from Rajaji.
An adult tiger was captured on camera at the Simbalbara National Park earlier this year. The Shimla wildlife division had shared the picture of the big cat on its Twitter handle on February 21.
