Forest officials have found traces of more Royal Bengal Tigers (RBTs) in the Hadagarh sanctuary in Keonjhar district.
“While we had found the presence of one Royal Bengal Tiger in the sanctuary during the tiger census in 2012, the recent census conducted in the sanctuary from October 20 to November 1 this year, has revealed the increase in their number to four,” said Assistant Forest Conservator Nabin Chandra Nayak.
He said a 40-member team comprising 15 forest staff and 25 watchers engaged in the census found several pugmarks of the Royal Bengal Tigers in the Junapasi, Bahia and Hadagarh areas. An analysis of these pugmarks has revealed the presence of a Royal Bengal couple with two three-year-old cubs, he informed. He also said the forest staff, during patrolling in the sanctuary on November 5, had found two RBTs feasting on a bison they had killed.