Tiger walks 300 km from Maharasthra to Kali reserve

A male tiger has traversed 300 km in two years, in search of a new home, from Sahyadri Tiger Reserve under Chandoli National Park in Maharashtra to Kali Tiger Reserve in Joida, Uttara Kannada.

The first photographic evidence of the tiger was at Maharashtra’s Nandurbar in 2018. The big cat was camera-trapped several times at Kali Tiger Reserve in April/May 2020, according to the Forest officials.

The tiger’s 300-km journey from Maharashtra to Dandeli Karnataka over two years has been recorded in cameras installed at various places in both the states. Although the distance between the two tiger reserves is 225 km, the big cat has travelled more, claim the officials.

Maria Christu Raju, Deputy Conservator of Forests and Director, Kali Tiger Reserve told DH,” Cameras have been fixed at many places in the Kali Tiger Reserve spread over 1,300 sqkm. About 25 adult tigers have been camera-trapped in the reserve in 2020. Tigers keep changing their habitat for various reasons.”

In 2008-09, a male tiger had covered a distance of 200 km from Bhadra Tiger Reserve in Chikkamagaluru to Anshi range in Kali reserve. The tiger was camera-trapped at various points through the journey.

The ‘walker’

A male tiger, referred to as T1C1 by wildlife officials, walked into the record books traversing more than 3,000 km. The tiger, nicknamed, walker’ had several back and forth journeys between Tipeshwar in Maharashtra and Adilabad forest in Telangana.