Tigers will surely return in rainy season in Palamu Tiger Reserve”, field director PTR M P Singh stated through a WhatsAopp message a couple of days back to the Pioneer. PTR’s top boss here is confident about the return of the tigers in rainy season here.
Palamu tiger reserve has a past history of tigers’ ‘pug out’ from here. Pug out means tigers going away from here to other places. Sources said tigers have done the same pug out this year when since this February no pug mark or other evidence of them has been discovered here. It is four months if counted when tiger was last sighted or camera trapped here since February till June end like March, April, May and June.
However, sources said this kind of pug out of the tigers is no new thing in PTR. M P Singh has maintained that there had been no sighting or evidence of tiger during May to October in the year 2016 and August to October 2017. This text of as great an officer as field director of PTR holds much water and significance as it goes to suggest that pug out of big cats from PTR has been a regular happening in the past too.
Sources said in the year 2016 tigers remained pug out for 6 months like May, June, July, August, September and October if one takes into account the text of the field director. This period of pug out starts from severe summer of May till the winter showers of October in 2016.
Similarly in 2017 the period of pug out of tigers from here is for three months like August, September and October. By this official information it means tigers have a tendency to remain out of the range of PTR for either maximum of 6 months down to 3 months as well like 6 months in 2016 and 3 months in 2017.
Field director who in his text has conceded that there has been no sighting or evidence (read of tigers) in the last four months the officer attributes it to the “extra movements of Maoists and security forces in the core areas”.
What this officer has contended bears weight as state police have launched an all out war against Maoists in the Burha Pahar region of this PTR where on June 26 Maoists killed 6 cops by deceptive booby traps of land mines. Sources said there is not a single day in PTR when columns of CRPF, CoBRA march out in the core areas of PTR while the Maoists walk on belly there too for their own existence. Sources said if there is no gun booming in PTR then it is a very unusual day in PTR.
The Field director has further maintained that tigers of PTR are ‘transient animals” and “no family of them has been found here for long time”. He concedes that “there has been problem of inviolate areas in PTR. He said the PTR’s thrust for relocation of villages from PTR with the consent and agreement of villagers is to ease the buotic pressure and also to create a big inviolate area for tigers here”. The Field director has claimed that with increased jungle patrolling local poaching of prey base has been controlled to a great extent. But he in the same vein admits ‘It is a long way for tiger to occupy the area for breeding. “With disturbance they (tigers) leave the area,” he said.