When the big walks, the lesser leaves the space. This is what happens here in the tiger reserve Palamu.
Leopards and deer have taken asylum in some more safer areas in the vicinity of the Betla National Park following movement of the tigers said sources.
P K Jena deputy director north division of the PTR told this correspondent today "There is a strong movement of the top predators. The lesser one the leopards and deer have 'dispersed' in safer areas over the last three or four days."
Betla National Park has around 10 leopards while the count of the deer is 5,000.
Deer used to be as close to the state highway 9 as possible. There is just a boundary wall of the Betla National Park that keeps the deer indoors.
"With the tigers around, these deer have left living in great visibility and are back in dense forests so as to keep themselves at bay from the tigers" reiterated Jena.
On being asked if the presence or movement of the leopard or tiger is heralded by the langurs and the monkeys Jena said "Langurs and monkeys are the great announcers to the presence of the tiger."
Langurs and monkeys make different calls in excitement or distress when they sight leopard and tiger.
"I some weeks ago heard a call of the langurs. It was for a tiger. I and my people went in some direction only to find a tiger basking in the Sun. The Langurs were precisely accurate for the presence of the tiger." recalled Jena
Langurs and the monkeys do espionage to the movement of the tiger and leopard from atop the tree.
About a 'sixth' tiger coming over to the PTR in the past two weeks Jena said "I too have read somewhere about the 6th tiger. Well I won't be tempted to call it sixth."
"All that I can say with authority is that a tiger did come here from Balrampur side of Chhatisgarh. It reached our Kutku Range too." he added.
"We found its hair, its kill and pug marks all very positively suggestive of its presence." Jena continued to explain.
"But there is no camera trap of this Chhatisgarh visitor. A camera trap image helps us to distinguish its stripes from other tigers. Stripes are very distinctive feature" Jena elaborated.
Jena said "I will not be engaged in the number of the tiger 5th or 6th or whatever you media people create but there is a definite movement of the tiger but to exclude that this movement is not of the old residing one rather of this new arrival of Chhatisgarh, I will refrain from hazarding any guess."
Too many tigers will mean lots of prey.
The north division of the PTR has a considerable number of prey in comparison to the south division.
Deer is very scanty in the south division. A sight of deer in the south division is seen as a lucky charm said the villagers.
Deputy director south division of the PTR on the other hand said " We are replenishing our stock of the deer in the south division."
"Between November 18 and 30, we have brought in 100 deer from Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park Ormanjhi. We are to transport another 150 plus deer from Ormanjhi to the south division of the PTR."
About the coming over of the tigers here from Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh via Chhatisgarh Ashish said "There is a strong surplus of the tigers in the Bandhavgarh tiger reserve. There is a question for territorial supremacy to the tigers there."
"The tiger there at Bandhavgarh that has not been able to cope there with the territorial fight for supremacy is trickling down to our PTR for some longer days of stay here." said Ashish.
On being asked that these days tigers in PTR are having longer venturing out like 50 or 60 sqkms to which Ashish said "A normal resident male tiger has 25 sqkm territory while a resident female 10 sqkm territory but these visiting tigers are making double walking down."
They are not settled in any location of the PTR as they one fine morning may love to return to their old location in MP conceded Ashish.
Their coming and going will go on till these visitors adapt to the eco friendly tiger reserve where its own prey base is limited while farmers' cattle abound in a couple of lakhs in the contiguity of the tiger reserve. PNS
