The authorities of Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR) have claimed the presence of a tiger in the forest area stating that the Wild Life Institute of India (WLII) confirmed this after analyzing samples of scats sent by the PTR. According to PTR, the WLII report has stated examination of six samples of scats has also confirmed the presence of a leopard in the forest area. These samples were sent on December 18 to Dehradun-based WLIL. PTR has long been claiming that tigers were spotted at as many as five places in the forest area. It claimed that under the
Mahuadand range of PTR, the team had spotted a tiger along with a cub. Besides, pug marks were also spotted where the tiger had hunted a buffalo. Besides, the ranger of the Baresadh range, Tarun Kumar also claimed to have seen the tiger.
Spread over 1,124 square km covering parts of Palamau and Latehar the PTR is divided into eight ranges including Betla. But there is no exact count of the total number of tigers in PTR which is Jharkhand’s only tiger reserve. It was declared a tiger reserve in 1973. PTR has fixed over 500 trap cameras at 509 locations and 400 trained tiger trackers continuously work.
In February 2020, a 14-year-old tigress was found dead at Betla Compartment road in Latehar district. Unofficially it is said that PTR has only two tigers left. As per the 2010 census, there were 10 tigers here which reduced to three in 2014.
In 2019, the All India Tiger Estimation (AITE)-2018 had released its report and claimed no existence of tigers at the PTR was found. The report claimed that five tigers were spotted in Jharkhand but none in PTR.