Bhubaneswar: The presence of a Royal Bengal Tiger in a forest in Odisha’s Khurda district has spread panic among the people of the area.
According to sources, the villagers of Jholasahi village in Banpur block of the district had found a half-eaten bull in a nearby Salapdih forest on Friday. Suspecting that the bull was killed by a wild animal, they informed the Forest department.
A team of Forest officials went to the village and carried out a detailed inspection in Salapdih forest. They found pug marks of a wild cat and sent their pictures for verification. Later, they confirmed that the pug marks belonged to a Royal Bengal Tiger.
Confirming the presence of the tiger, Debasis Bhoi, Assistant Conservator of Forests, Tangi said they would try to trace the wild cat with the help of a drone camera in the forest. He suspected that the tiger might have migrated to Salapdih from outside.
“We have appealed to the villagers in the area not to venture into the forest alone nor provoke the tiger,” said Nachuni Forester Purnachandra Behera.