At least three tigers in camera-trap shots in Gadchiroli forest

Gadchiroli was known to have 100 tigers about three decades ago. Today, the district’s forest has extremely sparse population of even herbivores. The return of the tiger has rekindled hopes for the district regaining its lost wildlife glory.

What is interesting about the Gadchiroli tigers is that they are all coming from the spillover of the population in the adjoining Brahmapuri forest division in Chandrapur. The Bramhapuri division is considered unique as it has between 40 and 50 tigers despite being a non-protected area.

“One of the three, the tigress from Ghot, was radio-collared in Bramhapuri last year after she attacked humans and was sent to Chaprala wildlife sanctuary. From there, she started moving in a large 100 sq km area and has become a resident now. A male had already come to the Ghot area before her and he too has become a resident,” Kalyan Kumar said.

A tiger from Ghot was poached last year and the skin was seized in Telangana. Also, the skins of tigers poached in Maoist-affected Tipagad forest from North Gadchiroli were seized last year, proving the existence of tigers in that area too. “While we have camera-trap pictures of the four tigers, it has not become possible to do that in the Tipagad area for obvious reasons,” Kalyan Kumar said.