The Sunderbans tiger that strayed near human habitat and eluded forest guards for two days seems to have returned to the forest it had sneaked out of, forest officials said on Wednesday.

Pugmarks found on the bank of the creek that leads to the Ajmalmari forest led foresters to the assumption.

“Early on Wednesday, pugmarks were found on the bank of the creek. The footprints were in the direction of the 11th compartment of the Ajmalmari forest. The tiger has returned to where it came from,” said Nisha Goswami, divisional forest officer of the South 24-Parganas forest division.

Tiger pugmarks were first spotted by residents of Kishorimohanpur village in the Kultali block on Monday. The animal was hiding in a small but dense patch of mangroves between the creek and the village.

The Ajmalmari forest is on the other side of the creek, called the Makri river.

By Tuesday, the tiger had moved to another part of the same patch of mangroves, near Baikunthapur village.

On Monday, the forest staff had fenced a kilometre of the mangrove patch near Kishorimohanpur. On Tuesday, another 600m near Baikunthapur was fenced.

A team of 70-80 men, comprising forest guards and quick-response teams of villagers, burst crackers and made other noise to “disturb” the tiger and drive it away towards the creek.

Teams from Maipith Coastal police station helped the foresters keep the crowd of curious onlookers at bay.

A trap cage with live bait was set up as well.

“The small but dense mangrove patch was providing an ideal cover to the tiger. Much to our relief, we found the pugmarks (on the bank of the creek) early on Wednesday,” said a forest official.

“We cannot say for sure but the tiger probably crossed the creek during low tide, after 3am.”

The Ajmalmari forest is fenced by nylon nets but there are openings in between. “The gaps become more exposed after high tide,” the official said.

DFO Goswami told Metro: “We will conduct regular patrolling along the border
of the villages for the next few days.”