Proud moment for State, says Minister
 

 
Haryana Forest and Wildlife officials and animal lovers are elated after a tiger was caught on camera-trap at Kalesar National Park in Yamunanagar district of the state.
 
Sharing the two pictures of the big cat, Haryana Forests and Wildlife Minister Kanwar Pal Gujjar said: “It is a proud moment for the state as the tiger was seen in the Kalesar area after 110 years. The last sighting was in 1913. Forests and wildlife are our natural heritage and we must make united efforts to protect them.”
 
Kalesar National Park shares a corridor with Himachal Pradesh’s Simbalbara National Park and Uttarakhand’s Rajaji National Park. Spread in 11,570 acres in the Shivalik foothills, the Kalesar National Park is home to a large number of wild animals like leopards, elephants, wild boar, sambar and several species of birds. In February, this year, two wild elephants had reportedly come to Kalesar from Rajaji National Park.
 
Haryana Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) ML Rajvanshi, talking to The Pioneer, said that the tiger was seen on April 18 and 19. “Both the images were captured by a camera-trap at the park…We have formed a team to follow the pugmarks to ascertain the age, sex, and other details of the animal,” he added.
 
Rajvanshi said that it is the first-ever recorded evidence of tiger’s presence in Haryana after 1913. “The last reference about the presence of tiger was recorded in 1913 when Haryana was part of undivided Punjab. The camera traps near Gugga Fire Line, which is deep inside the park, captured the images. Gugga Fire Line is a wide clear patch made to prevent any possible spread of forest fire,” said the Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife).
 
Another senior wildlife official said that as the Kalesar National Park shares a corridor with Uttarakhand’s Rajaji National Park, the tiger is believed to have reached Kalesar from Rajaji National Park in Dehradun. “The Kalesar Park is adjacent to Simbalbara National Park in the Sirmaur district. These two parks are connected to Rajaji National Park through a dense forest. It appears that tigers are using this corridor to move around. It’s too early to say but the tiger might be making Kalesar its new home as some pugmarks were also seen in the recent past. We are looking into this possibility,” he added.
 
He further said that the forest and wildlife department, meanwhile, is making efforts to trace the pug marks of the big cat to determine its gender and other details. “A team of wildlife guards have been assigned the task to track the pug marks. We have intensified the patrolling in the area,” the official said.