After spending days in Bengal, tiger crosses over to Jharkhand again: Officials

Kolkata, Jan 28 (PTI) A Royal Bengal Tiger that crossed over to West Bengal from Jharkhand a few days ago, has gone back to the neighbouring state, a senior forest official said on Tuesday.

The full-grown adult male crossed over to the forested parts in Jharkhand from the Jangalmahal area in West Bengal on Monday night, Chief Conservator of Forests S Kulandaivel told PTI.

The senior forest official said the big cat is believed to be on the side of the Dalma forest range in Jharkhand.

The tiger had crossed over to West Bengal's Jangalmahal area, consisting of Jhargram, Purulia and Bankura districts, on January 19-20 and moved a distance of about 20 km in the past seven days.

"It had also crossed the highways crisscrossing the belt at dusk but stayed deep inside forests avoiding humans. The forest department personnel kept track of its movement through pug marks and trap cameras," the official said.

It moved along Belpahari in Jhargram, Bandwan in Purulia and Ranibandh in Bankura district.

The tiger had first crossed over to Bengal from Jharkhand on January 12, went back to the neighbouring state after a few days and then returned to West Bengal on January 19-20.

It has gone back to Jharkhand again, the official said.

"It is quite natural for an animal like a tiger to behave in such way. They are in search of new territory and this tiger found the Jangalmahal area - dotted with thorny shrubs, hillocks, fountains and streams and enough prey base like wild boars and jackals in the area," Kulandaivel said.

"We had been on guard and our surveillance remains," he said.

He said the forest department will remain ready in case it heads back to the state again and all standard operating procedures (SOP) are in place.

Last month, a female tiger named Zeenat had strayed into West Bengal from Odisha's Similipal via Jharkhand and was caught on December 29.

Asked if the male tiger, whose origin was not known, was following the same route as Zeenat, Kulandeival said, "There are same media reports to that effect. That is pure imagination." PTI SUS SBN SBN