Mumbai: Four years back Ookhan was lost form Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) at Chandrapur near Nagpur and an image of Ookhan was captured via a camera trap far away from his home early this month.
Eight-year-old Ookhan was spotted 80-100 km away from his home near Pathri, Ghodazhari area, where safaris recently began, the area falls under the Brahmapur division adjoining TATR.
Every tiger has unique stripe patterns, the stripe pattern of Ookhan from a 2012 photograph matched with tiger’s image recorded by the camera trap on March 2 this year.
“It is a known fact that male cubs generally travel farther away from their mother’s territory to establish their own. This prevents inbreeding among tigers,” said Jignesh Patel, a naturalist, and who has been visiting TATR for six years. “It was assumed that Ookhan was killed by a dominant male tiger or was poached.”
Chief conservator of forests and field director GP Garad, however, refused to confirm that Ookhan was sighted.
GP Garad said, “This was not recorded in Tadoba during my period. As a field director, I have no idea since I took charge in 2014. In 2012, there was no tiger missing, no poaching.”
“Tigers keep changing their territory. Tiger management is important; their population should not get reduced,” he added.