Berhampur: The Royal Bengal Tiger (RBT), which was spotted in Digapahandi forest range of Odisha’s Ganjam district recently, posed no threat to the people in nearby areas as it was confined to deep forest.
This was stated by Sunny Khokkar, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Berhampur, at a press meet on Tuesday. “The tiger is now confined in the forest area and there is nothing to worry about it. Besides, Forest officials continue to monitor the situation closely,” he said.
However, Khokkar said they would not reveal the exact location of the RBT at present due to possible threat to the big cat. “The Forest officials are monitoring the movement of the tiger 24×7. As many as 24 teams of the officials have been deployed in Berhampur, Samantiapalli and Digapahandi range. Six camera traps have also been installed in the area to monitor the RBT,” he added.
The Forest officials had earlier collected pug marks from the site for a detailed analysis. From the pugmarks, it was suspected to be those of a big and ‘intelligent’ cat, the DFO said.
The residents were scared after a video spotting the tiger near Palur hill close to Golanthara on NH-16, went viral in social media a few days ago.
The DFO termed the video and photographs in the social media as fake and said uploading such fake video and photographs, which scare the public, is an offence under the rule of law. All these must be discouraged, he added.
The tiger had attacked and killed six animals owned by the villagers before retreating into the forest. A compensation amount of Rs 58,500 in six cases have been processed under government’s scheme. Forest officials recovered the carcasses of the killed animals and conducted autopsies with the help of local veterinary doctors.
However, the DFO said it was a relief and a good thing that the big cat had not attacked any human being.
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