Foresters in West Midnapore deployed a team in Lalgarh forest on Saturday to locate a wolf-like animal that has been sighted in the Jungle Mahal area over the last few days.

Early this weekend, residents of Kumirkata and Lakshmanpur villages in the Lalgarh forest spotted claw marks near the forest border and informed foresters suspecting it was a tiger.

“We have deployed our forest staff in and around Lalgarh forest to confirm the presence of the animal. As per our primary observations, it may be a wolf or wolf-like animal. We have alerted villagers not to enter the forest early in the morning or at night as such animals come out to search for prey after sunset,” said Sandeep Kumar Berwal, West Midnapore DFO.