Pugmarks lead trackers nowhere close to tiger

GOPRAMAU (Kakori): The young tiger is on the move. On Sunday, forest department and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) team tracked its pugmarks on the banks of Gomti in villages of Kakori and Bakshi Ka Talab (BKT) but failed to catch even sight of it. All pugmarks are at least two-days old. To assume the present location of the tiger on the basis of old pugmarks is difficult.
Though marks in the agricultural fields of Gopramau village of Kakori block and Lodhmau village of BKT, across Gopramau on the other side of Gomti, confirmed tiger's presence in the area, trackers said it is still not possible to say where the tiger is headed.Gopramau is not more than 40km from Lucknow and a village close to Chandika Devi temple. On Saturday evening the tracking team was informed of tiger pugmarks in Gopramau. But it was dark before the team could search the area fully.
On Sunday, tracking began early morning at Gopramau but the old pugmarks yielded no clue about the tiger’s current location. By noon, there were reports coming in about pugmarks found in Lodhmau in BKT and tracking team shifted search operation to BKT range of Awadh forest division. “We are getting to see only old pugmarks. There is no sighting of a tiger-kill. If we could get that we can tie a bait at the spot and localise it,” said range officer, Malihabad, K K Upadhyay.
Though the feline has crossed the river, the team could not locate the spot from where the tiger crossed the river. The banks are an uneven terrain covered by weeds and thickets. “The only thing we can deduce from pugmarks is that it has gone from Gopramau towards Lodhmau in BKT,” said the officer.
Though rumours abound of tiger killing cattle in the area every day, none were tiger-kills. The carcasses have no strike marks to confirm tiger attack. The necks have been found intact in the carcasses found so far. Former director, Dudhwa tiger reserve, G C Mishra, said, “Normally, tiger eats its prey from the rump. It makes a cleaner kill compared to leopard which ruptures the stomach of the prey.”
The spot where tiger leaves the kill has crows and vultures hovering over it and descending down to feed on the remains of the kill. No such sign has been found so far. Also, the cattle, who mostly get alerted by spoor of the tiger, were grazing in the fields. The sub-adult canine is constantly on the move. “In earlier cases, when a tiger strayed close to Lucknow in 2008 and to Rahmankhera in 2009, we had sighted it easily but this time no one has seen it,” said the officer.
Dense forest patches have made tracking difficult. Moreover, many vital clues might be getting destroyed as tiger is moving through human habitations.