Pugmarks finally lead to capture of male tiger in south Bengal

Forest officials capture adult male tiger in South 24 Parganas district after week-long pursuit, releasing it in Sunderbans.

Forest department officials on Sunday (January 12, 2025) night captured an adult male tiger from the Kisorimohanpur area in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal after pursuing pugmarks adjoining residential areas for around a week, officials said.

“The tiger was successfully captured on Sunday (January 12, 2025) night with the help of a bait. We did preliminary health checks and found that it was healthy,” Divisional Forest Officer of South 24 Parganas Nisha Goswami told The Hindu.

Ms. Goswami added that after ascertaining the tiger was fully healthy, it was released into the wild in the Sunderbans. The tiger is a 10-year-old fully grown adult male tiger.

Since January 7, a series of pugmarks discovered in Baikunthapur area under Maipith Coastal police station of Kultali block has led to panic among locals, who feared the movement of big cats too close to human habitation. According to forest officials, the tiger had escaped nylon fencing and was roaming in areas that were hardly 50 metres away from people’s houses.

Notably, the pugmarks were first discovered a few days after the Forest department had finally captured tigress Zeenat following a wild goose chase through various districts in West Bengal and returned her to Odisha.

“We have been pursuing pugmarks in Moipith area of Kultali for around a week. However, pugmarks are hard to follow given how they get washed over by water or other soil movement,” Ms. Goswami said while talking about the process of tracking down the male tiger in Kultali. “However, there were two to three incidents that made it certain that the pugmarks were linked to the same animal.”

On Sunday (January 13, 2025), based on data collected through surveillance, the Forest department encircled the suspected area of the tiger’s movement. Finally, the big cat took the bait of attacking the goat and was captured.