Tiger spotted in Himachal’s Paonta forests may be missing Rajaji big cat

Dehradun: Rajaji Tiger Reserve officials will visit the Khara forest of Paonta Sahib in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district on Friday after a tiger was captured on a CCTV camera there last week, the first such sighting in the forest belt adjoining Dehradun.

Forest officials suspect the animal could be one of the two tigers missing from Rajaji landscape since 2023 and may have dispersed into adjoining forest areas.“Field personnel will collect direct and indirect evidence of tiger presence, including sightings, pugmarks, scat and other signs, for comparison with data from tigers in the Rajaji landscape to determine its possible identity, dispersal pattern or population connectivity,” said Koko Rose, director of Rajaji Tiger Reserve.Forest officials said the Paonta forests have a healthy population of nilgai, sambar and other ungulates, providing prey for large predators. They added that elephant movement is regularly recorded through wildlife corridors linking Dehradun and Paonta Sahib.Paonta Sahib divisional forest officer Ved Sharma said forest teams visited the site after the sighting and found pugmarks, scratches on trees and claw marks, all of which indicate tiger presence.

“We have increased monitoring in the area to keep track of the tiger and ensure its conservation,” he said.The photographic evidence comes weeks after villagers in Tokk and Lie informed forest officials about frequent vulture activity in the area, which can indicate the presence of large carnivores. Officials said some villagers had also reported spotting a tiger in the surrounding forests.