Bengaluru: The occupants of a zoo safari vehicle at Bannerghatta had a sighting of their lifetime. A wild tiger, right in the backyard of Silicon Valley. The officials at the Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) confirmed that the tiger that was sighted by the tourists of safari vehicle is a wild one.
“Three days ago, the pugmarks of a tiger were recorded in the Sheeghikatte area of the Biological Park and since then the animal keepers have been on alert about the possible movement of the tiger. This is the first tiger sighting so close to Bengaluru," said Mr Range Gowda, director of the park. However the foresters at the adjoining National Park point out that the forest watchers had sighted a tiger six months ago in Bannerghatta Range.
“In 2013, tiger pug marks were recorded outside the tiger safari area,” informed an official from the Bannerghatta National Park. Tiger experts are however sceptical about the tiger being sighted so close to an urban area.
"There is nothing to rejoice about as the Bannerghatta forests cannot support a carnivore like a tiger and the nearest breeding population of the big cat is about 90 km from Bannerghatta. The tiger may have strayed from the Cauvery wildlife sanctuary," said a tiger expert.
Officials are now planning to put up camera traps at the points where tiger was reportedly spotted and where the pug marks were recorded.
