Fresh pugmarks of a tiger near a human habitat sparked a fresh wave of panic in a pocket of the Sunderbans on Saturday.
The pugmarks were spotted near Bhubaneswari village in Kultali block by villagers who informed the forest department.
“They are tiger pugmarks that seem at least a day old. We have launched a thorough search operation. We have put up fences on all three sides of the forest. Only the side of the river is open. Drones were also used during the day. So far, we have not been able to spot the tiger,” said Milan Mandal, the divisional forest officer of South 24-Parganas forest division.
The pugmarks were spotted near a thick mangrove cover on the banks of the Mani river. But it is not a full-fledged forest, said Mandal.
Built by periodical accretion of soil, the land is called Bhubaneswari char in local parlance. The village is some distance from the mangrove cover. In February 2022, another tiger had strayed into the same area. It managed to elude foresters for three weeks, thanks to a steady population of wild boars inside.
The mangrove cover and prey base allowed the tiger to remain elusive for such a long time, said forest officials.
Forest guards are looking for return pugmarks towards the river. The tiger is suspected to have strayed from Ajmalmari forest across the river. A part of the nylon fencing of the Ajmalmari forest has been opened so that the tiger can go in.
“Our men will work through the night. If the tiger has not returned to the forest, we hope to trace it soon,” Mandal said.
The pugmarks of another tiger, suspected to have strayed from the larger Dhulibhasani forest, were found near Sridharpur village, on the other side of the Thakuran river, in Ramganga Range, in early November.
The pugmarks led a team of foresters to Dhanchi, a small forest island on the eastern side of G-Plot beach and right on the edge of the Bay of Bengal.
The foresters had used thermal drones and trap cameras to trace the tiger. It was finally clicked by the cameras after 10 days. The tiger is believed to have settled in Dhanchi, which has a sufficient prey base.