Coimbatore: The striped cats are making a strident roar inTamil Nadu. The population of tigers seems to be soaring in the southern state as foot prints of the big cats were spotted in the contiguous forests of western Tamil Nadu during the nation-wide tiger census that began on Tuesday.
In a positive tale of tiger conservation in Tamil Nadu, the synchronised census has shown evidence of the ‘healthy’ presence of tigers in Coimbatore, SathyamanÂgalam Tiger Reserve and Anamalai Tiger Reserve spanning the Coimbatore, Erode and Tirupur districts.
“Our volunteers have spotted many pug marks of tiger in both Satyamangalam and Anamalai Tiger Reserves, which is an indication of the presence of big cats in large numbers,” said K Kalidas of Osai.
In Satyamangalam reserve, the pug marks were sighted at Thalamalai and Thengumarahada forests, while the big cats’ foot prints were tracked in Varahaliyar, Grass Hills and Ullandhi areas in the Anaimalai reserve.
A total of 50 volunteers from Osai have been assisting the forest department staff in both the reserves in carrying out census. However, on Day One of the week-long census programme, there was hardly any direct sighting of big cat by both volunteers and forest department staff.
Mohammed Saleem of Environment ConservaÂtion Group (ECG), who is conducting the census in Nilgiris area, however, said since the earth surface remains dry due to lack of rains, the pug marks were not visible.
From textile business man to film Institute students and IT professionals, they were all there to get a glimpse of the big cats and experience a slice of a wild adventure. “Though it’s enough for us to walk upto five kilometers, I trekked around 13 kilometers, out of my own interest, looking for evidences of animals. I feel very excited to be part of this census work,” said V Saantha Kumar, a first timer, who is into textile business.
A student of Film Institute from Chennai, B.A. Gautham said that he came down to Coimbatore to enjoy the thrill of trekking into the forests. “I find this a stress buster and away from the hectic city life,” he said. The two first timers, however couldn’t sight any animals on their day one of their jungle trek.
Satyamangalam Division, District Forest Officer K Rajkumar said that 48 teams including 63 student volunteers are involved in the census in the Sathyamangalam tiger reserve spread across 1,400 sq kms.
“They walked for more than five kilometers looking for signs of carnivore animals. From December 17 to 19, they will look for pug marks, scratch marks on tree barks and scats. And from December 20 to 22, the census will mainly focus on the prey base population and the health of the habitat,” he said.
ATR Field Director Rajiv K Srivastava said that tourist spots like Top Slip, Chinnakallar and Monkey Falls has been closed due to census work carried out in 958 sq km area spread over six ranges. “A total of 78 teams are involved in the census in ATR,” he said. Meanwhile, the volunteers are excitedly waiting for that great experience - sighting the big cat in their jungle haven.
