Royal Bengal tiger pictures — three in all — have been recently clicked by trap cameras installed in the Neora Valley National Park in the upper reaches of Kalimpong district, but experts will decide whether they are photographs of one animal or different ones.

Back in 2017, the presence of tiger was found in Neora Valley when Anmol Chhetri, a cab driver, had seen one and clicked its photos near Lava. Later the same year, tiger photographs were clicked in trap cameras.

“Again, in 2019 and even last year, we came across more tiger photographs which were clicked in various places of the national park. But most were clicked during the winters. This is the first time that photos were clicked in monsoon,” said a senior forest official.

On December 11 last year, foresters were elated as after a gap of 30 years, a photograph of a royal Bengal tiger was clicked in Buxa Tiger Reserve in Alipurduar district.

According to the forest official, the presence of tigers in Neora Valley indicates that over the years, the national park has developed as a good habitat for the species.

“This is because of the pristine nature of the forest, along with a steady prey base. Three photographs were clicked at different places, two during daytime and one at night. We are not divulging the locations and dates because of security reasons. The department will carry out necessary analysis of the pictures to find out whether one or more tigers has been clicked by these trap cameras,” he added.

Earlier, when tigers were sighted during winters, some experts had opined that the big cats had descended from the neighbouring Himalayan ranges of Bhutan because of the cold. “But as the animal has been spotted during monsoons, it shows that the national park has developed as a habitat,” pointed out a retired forest officer with experience in this region.

In 2018, when the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had published a list of nationwide tiger estimation, the presence of only one tiger was hinted at in the north Bengal landscape.

Earlier this year, the NTCA carried out another round of census earlier but is yet to publish the results.

After a tiger was spotted back in 2018, the state forest department had taken the task to install more trap cameras in Neora Valley and in Buxa for an intensive coverage of forest areas.

“The initiative has worked, as is evident from the recent photos. We are on alert and taking all steps to ensure that the habitat does not get disturbed in any manner,” said an official.